Medical Information At this time: Osteoporosis: May selenium scale back danger?

A current examine from China finds an affiliation between dietary consumption of selenium and osteoporosis danger. Though the authors can’t decide whether or not the hyperlink is causal, they name for extra investigation.

Share on PinterestA brand new examine asks whether or not selenium consumption may hyperlink to osteoporosis danger.

All through life, the physique constantly breaks down bone, reabsorbs it, and remakes it. In osteoporosis, the reforming of bone can’t sustain with the speed of bone breakdown.

This course of implies that, over time, bones turn out to be weaker and extra liable to fracture. Osteoporosis predominantly impacts older adults, and, globally, an estimated 200 million individuals have osteoporosis.

The situation impacts roughly 1 in three females over 50 years of age, whereas 1 in 5 males can have fractures that osteoporosis pertains to throughout their lifetime.

There are some danger components for osteoporosis that individuals can’t keep away from, reminiscent of advancing age and intercourse. However consultants have additionally recognized some modifiable danger components, as an illustration, smoking tobacco and ingesting alcohol improve the chance.

Scientists additionally consider that dietary components may play an element. Up to now, most analysis taking a look at vitamin and osteoporosis has targeting calcium due to its pivotal position in bone well being.

The authors of the latest examine, nevertheless, consider that different micronutrients might affect osteoporosis danger. They determined to deal with selenium. The scientists revealed their ends in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Issues.

What’s selenium?

Selenium is a hint mineral that’s important for human well being. It performs an element in lots of programs of the physique and is current in a variety of meals, together with fish, shellfish, pink meat, grains, eggs, hen, liver, and garlic.

Though a handful of earlier research have checked out selenium’s influence on osteoporosis, the proof has not been conclusive.

To handle this hole in our information, the newest researchers took information from 6,267 individuals who visited the Division of Well being Examination Centre of Xiangya Hospital, Central South College, China.

Registered nurses engaged with all individuals and collated details about their existence and demographics. All individuals had been 40 years of age or older and accomplished detailed meals frequency questionnaires.

Importantly, the scientists additionally took word of different parameters that may affect osteoporosis, reminiscent of ingesting, smoking standing, physique mass index (BMI), and stage of bodily exercise.

Selenium and osteoporosis

General, osteoporosis was current in 9.6% of individuals — 2.three% in males and 19.7% in females. Utilizing the questionnaire information, the scientists break up the individuals into 4 teams, which they ranked for the best to the bottom selenium consumption.

As they anticipated, people with the bottom ranges of dietary selenium had the best danger of creating osteoporosis. The authors noticed a dose response relationship; in different phrases, selenium consumption had a adverse correlation with osteoporosis danger — the extra a person consumed, the decrease their danger.

Even after controlling for components reminiscent of age, gender, and BMI, the connection was nonetheless important; it additionally held true for each men and women. The authors conclude:

“The findings of our examine could give a touch of the pathogenesis of [osteoporosis], and future research of dietary consumption, together with [selenium] supplementary consumption, on the chance of [osteoporosis] are warranted.”

Of their paper, the authors talk about some mechanisms by which selenium may affect osteoporosis danger. They clarify how the exercise of immune molecules, reminiscent of cytokines, encourage the development of osteoporosis and that selenium could inhibit these molecules.

Secondly, selenium varieties a part of selenium dependent antioxidant enzymes, which mop up reactive oxygen species inside cells.

Reactive oxygen species happen as a byproduct of oxygen metabolism and play helpful roles within the physique. Nonetheless, in the event that they construct up, they trigger oxidative stress, which might injury cells. Subsequently, decrease ranges of selenium may improve oxidative stress.

That is essential as a result of, because the authors clarify, there’s some proof that oxidative stress may affect the development of osteoporosis.

Limitations and the longer term

The authors consider that theirs is the primary examine to narrate dietary selenium consumption to osteoporosis straight. Though they used a comparatively massive pattern dimension and accounted for a variety of variables, there are nonetheless important limitations.

For example, any examine that’s reliant on self-reported meals consumption is open to error — human reminiscence is definitely not infallible. The authors additionally clarify that ranges of selenium in meals can differ, and that preparation strategies additionally affect how a lot selenium is obtainable.

Additionally, in observational research reminiscent of this, it isn’t doable to substantiate a causal relationship between dietary selenium and illness outcomes; there’s at all times the chance that different components are influencing the outcomes.

As the typical age of the inhabitants slowly rises, osteoporosis is changing into extra prevalent. Understanding how we will scale back danger is significant, and extra work is bound to comply with.