Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. 78% of the participating women who supplemented with selenium for 6 months had improved cervical cell health compared to 50% of women in the control group.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer and the fourth most common cause of death from cancer in women worldwide (1). In 2012, an estimated 528,000 cases of cervical cancer occurred, with 266,000 deaths, accounting for about 8% of the total cases and total deaths from cancer (2).
A precursor to cervical cancer is cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, with up to 50% of all cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia progressing to cervical cancer (3). While the main risk factors for progression to cervical cancer is infection with human papilloma virus (4), inflammation and oxidative stress are also significant contributors (5, 6). Now a new study (7) suggests that selenium may be a way to help maintain cervical health in women.
The study involved 56 women aged 35 to 41 and diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. They received either 200 micrograms of selenium (28 women) or placebo (28 women) for 6 months. After 6 months, 22 of the 28 women in the selenium group (78%) had an improvement in the health of their cervical cells (called “regression”) compared to 14 of the 28 women in the placebo group (50%) (p = 0.01).
In addition, the following changes were observed in their blood samples:
| Selenium Group | Placebo Group | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fasting Blood Sugar (mg/dL) | 7.2% decrease (94.5 to 87.7) | 1.4% increase (89.4 to 90.7) | 0.002 |
| Insulin (microInternational Units/mL) | 34.6% decrease (13.9 to 9.1) | 17.3% Increase (12.7 to 14.9) | < 0.001 |
| HOMA-IR | 39.4% decrease (3.3 to 2.0) | 17.8% increase (2.8 to 3.3) | < 0.001 |
| MDA (micromoles/Liter) | 26.4% decrease (5.7 to 4.2) | 1.7% increase (5.9 to 6.0) | 0.001 |
Finally, those in the selenium group had a 23.2% increase in Total Antioxidant Capacity (798.9 to 985) compared to a 5.1% increase in the placebo group (826.5 to 869.3) (p = 0.02).
For the researchers, “taking selenium supplements among patients with [cervical intraepithelial neoplasia] led to its regression and had beneficial effects on their metabolic profiles.”
Source: Karamali, Maryam, et al. “The favourable effects of long-term selenium supplementation on regression of cervical tissues and metabolic profiles of patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.” British Journal of Nutrition 114.12 (2015): 2039-2045.
© The Authors 2015
Posted November 3, 2015.
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his website at www.PitchingDoc.com.
References:
- World Cancer Report 2014. World Health Organization. 2014. pp. Chapter 5.12.
- World Cancer Report 2014. World Health Organization. 2014. pp. Chapter 1.1
- McCredie MR, Sharples KJ, Paul C, et al. (2008) Natural history of cervical neoplasia and risk of invasive cancer in women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Oncol 9, 425–434.
- Duggan MA (2002) A review of the natural history of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Gan To Kagaku Ryoho 29, 176–193
- Mitchell C, Hitti J, Paul K, et al. (2011) Cervicovaginal shedding of HIV type 1 is related to genital tract inflammation independent of changes in vaginal microbiota. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 27, 35–39.
