Research on the Mineral Iodine
The following research abstracts
are presented to reflect the findings of possible benefits from
minerals as a dietary supplement and nutritional supplement.
You will find more on the ionic
iodine page.
SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
Med Hypotheses (ENGLAND) Jun
1993, 40 (6) p364-6
Reid found selenium (Se) deficient
soils were a common factor in two populations with the highest
incidence of SIDS world-wide (Indian population of King County
Washington State, USA and the population of Canterbury, New
Zealand). Reid compared a map of the selenium responsive livestock
areas in New Zealand with areas of low soil iodine
(I). She found that the 1989 report of areas of the highest
SIDS incidence coincided with Se responsive livestock areas
combined with low soil iodine.
Foster found the 1983-84 incidence of SIDS in USA has the strongest
positive correlation with the incidence of goitre in World War
I troops (1916). Sodium and strontium were positively related.
Emery found a hypernatraemic SIDS victim in a very cold environment.
Robertson and Parker associated increased sodium (Na) (used
in Scunthorpe, England, as a water softener) with increased
incidence of SIDS. Godwin's study of White Muscle Disease in
lambs describes Se protection. Skeletal muscle mitochondria
from dystrophic animals showed lowered respiratory rates with
palmitoyl-dl-carnitine and acetyl-dl-carnitine as substrate.
Dystrophic organelles failed to respond to ADP. Rognun found
elevated hypoxanthine and an enhanced immune response in most
SIDS victims. A syndrome associated with potassium deficiency
has been described as a killer of healthy, young Asian men,
most often during sleep. This paper describes the interactions
of sodium (Na), potassium (K), selenium (Se), and iodine
(I) to some factors affecting the utilization of oxygen and
the production of energy. (19 Refs.)
GENERAL IODINE RESEARCH
Levander OA; Whanger PD
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service,
Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, MD 20705, USA.
J Nutr (UNITED STATES) Sep 1996, 126 (9 Suppl) p2427S-2434S
Information is presented regarding
the approaches that have been used to establish dietary recommendations
for selenium and iodine. In the
case of selenium, activity of the selenoenzyme glutathione peroxidase
has served as a convenient biochemical endpoint for judging
nutritional status. However, there are differences of opinion
among various nutritionists as to whether full expression of
this enzymatic activity is required for adequate nutriture,
thereby resulting in differences in dietary recommendations.
Endpoints for assessing selenium overexposure are much less
satisfactory, but toxicological standards for selenium have
nevertheless been established. Thus far, no nutritionists have
attempted to shift the paradigm for determining dietary selenium
recommendations away from prevention of deficiency disease to
prevention of chronic degenerative disease (e.g., cancer). In
the case of iodine, urinary excretion
of the element is the most widely used endpoint for judging
nutritional status. Numerous epidemiological surveys have been
conducted to determine the level of urinary iodine
excretion that is consistent with prevention of goiter, the
most common endpoint of iodine
deficiency. Because dietary iodine
is essentially quantitatively excreted in the urine, determination
of the latter in goitrous areas will allow an almost direct
estimation of those intakes at risk of developing deficiency
disease. Iodine toxicity is complicated by the fact that some
persons are quite tolerant to the element whereas others are
highly sensitive to it. There are relatively complete data sets
concerning exposure vs. human health effects for both selenium
and iodine so that sounder bases
probably exist for their dietary recommendations than for many
other trace elements.
Selenium is an essential trace
element in nutrition for the prevention of disease in humans.
Epidemiological studies indicate an association between low
nutritional selenium status and increased risks of cardiomyopathy,
cardiovascular disease, and carcinogenesis in various sites
of the body. The role of selenium supplementation in the prevention
and treatment of AIDS-related pathology has been considered.
Selenoproteins discovered in mammalian cells may account for
the essentiality of selenium in the body's antioxidant defense;
thyroid hormone function; immune system function, particularly
the cellular immunity; formation of sperm; and functioning of
the prostate gland. The seleno-organic compounds, primarily
L-(+)-selenomethionine, generally are recognized as safe and
effective forms of selenium supplementation. The nutritionally
recommended dose of elemental selenium is estimated at 50 to
200 mg per day. There is, however, increased discussion of a
pharmacological dose of selenium, significantly higher than
the nutritional dose of the microelement, to treat active conditions.
One way of increasing the tissue levels of selenium is to combine
its ingestible form with a nutrient bioavailability enhancing
compound. (87 Refs.)
