The mineral Selenium and the energy supplement Coenzyme Q10 team up for good heart function in the elderly

Coenzyme Q10 allows you to burn the calories from food as energy for metabolism. For the nutrient Coenzyme Q10 to function you have to have a sufficient amount of selenium in your body. Selenium is a micronutrient meaning the body requires very little on a daily basis to function yet many people are low or even deficient in this mineral.

In this study researchers and medical doctors from Linköping University and the Karolinska Institute investigated the “vital relationship” between the two nutrients in 443 Swedish subjects whose ages ranged between 70 and 88. They were observed for four-years. People living in Sweden are often low in selenium because selenium levels are low in their soil.

Over the four-year period 12.6 percent of the elderly in the placebo group died of cardiovascular disease whereas only 5.9 percent in the Supplemented group died giving results that should not be ignored. Additionally NT-proBNP levels were much lower in the hearts of the supplemented elderly.  NT-proBNP is a proxy showing there is tension in the hearts wall if it is elevated. Elevations in its level are connected with having heart failure or dying from cardiovascular disease. A further result through supplementing with the two nutrients was the detection of better cardiac function revealed through echocardiography. The study is published in the International Journal of Cardiology.

For more information on the risk factor NT-proBNP see http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/5/441 and also http://www.healio.com/cardiology/hf-transplantation/news/online/%7BF7F9E035-E731-4DAD-80F4-33639B35C282%7D/NT-proBNP-levels-predictive-of-incident-HF-CV-death).

Note: Selenium is required for numerous processes in the human body including removing dangerous toxins, proper heart and liver function, metabolism and thyroid function, blood vessel function and healthy circulation, muscle metabolism, and cancer prevention. Truly lacking selenium over a long time period is related to developing damage to the heart muscle (Keshan disease), joint damage (Kashin-Beck Disease), and lacking it at any time contributes to poor immune function. There is some evidence that Selenium decreases the risk of bladder, prostate and thyroid cancers. Selenium is related to all of the above because it is part of over one-hundred enzymes known as selenoproteins. These enzymes control or affect many biological reactions in our body. Excessive intake of Selenium can be toxic and 200mcg a day seems to be a good dosage for adults.