Senium study helps boost CD4 and overall immune system? Discuss

[webontheweb]

A friend sent me this link, I hope it is okay to post it here. Anyone have other evidence or insights into this? If it truly works, we should all be doing this! This is not a supplement that could hurt, so why not do it?
http://www.nutrition21.com/NEWS_chromium_picolinate/Nutrition-21s-Selenomax-Suppresses-Progression-of-the-Human-Immunodeficiency-Virus-HIV-1-According-to-Study-Results-Published-in-Archives-of-Internal-Medicine-_164.aspx

[GNYC09]

If you do a search you'll find seven pages of posts on selenium.  Here is a good one: http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=8189.0

[fearless]

This is not a supplement that could hurt, so why not do it?

I don't know that everyone would agree with this. There is a line of thinking that by taking selenium you are potentially feeding HIV and helping it to replicate.

And, like many supplements, selenium in high doses is known to be toxic

[Merlin]

I don't know that everyone would agree with this. There is a line of thinking that by taking selenium you are potentially feeding HIV and helping it to replicate.

And, like many supplements, selenium in high doses is known to be toxic

Hmmm....any documented source from this line of thinking?

[fearless]

I will try to find it when I have a free moment - the thinking was along these lines:


- selenium supplements sre recommended to help boost selenium in the body as it is needed for proper immune system function,
- studies often show that people with HIV may have lower selenium levels,
- it is believed believed by some that HIV needs selenium to replicate and that it outcompetes the immune system for the available selenium (hence the reduction of selenium levels) - if this is the case, by taking selenium supplements, you are potentially helping HIV replicate and run wild.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11126428 this study examines the role of selenium in HIV replication
and some interesting stuff about high selenium levels leading to increased risk of prostate cancer http://www.altpenis.com/penis_news/20090621020341sys.shtml

not trying to scare anyone, but you really should be getting enough selenium from your diet. high doses of just about anything may pose more risk than any perceived benefit

[TheRoof]

I heard that zinc does the same thing. Because HIV needs "zinc fingers" to replicate so zinc was linked to having hiv progress too. But I don't know how credible that was. Have you heard about that?

[elf]

There are many theories on HIV and selenium, but to be honest, we don't know how it works.
We DO have many CLINICAL studies showing that selenium boosts CD4 and keeps viral load low (in people on HAART).

The ''HIV likes selenium theory'' goes like this: ''additional selenium you take feeds HIV in an infected cell so it does not attack/enter a healthy CD4 cell to get selenum it needs''.     So, even this ''pessimistic'' theory is on the good side.  

[psfundude]

Hi Elf,

Interesting reply! Certainly elegantly put!

Two questions I hope you have the time to answer...

1.  Would you yourself take such a supplement?
2.  Were there conclusions that suggested people not on HAART would not realize any benefit?

Thanks!

[elf]

Hello psfundude, welcome aboard,
1. I'm taking selenium, 350-400 micrograms a day, but
sometimes I forget to take it  
I guess I need to take it with my night dose of meds
2. we don't know much about that, all we know is from the preHAART era
(severely immunocompromised people had very low concentrations of selenium)

my doc strongly advised against taking any supplements, but her chief (infect. disease professor)
told me it's ok to take selenium, so I'm taking it  

[madbrain]

We DO have many CLINICAL studies showing that selenium boosts CD4 and keeps viral load low (in people on HAART).

Are you sure the studies were in people on HAART only ? As I recall there were some in people not on HAART too. But I can't locate them now.

[GNYC09]

Interestingly, selenium isn't one of the ingredients in those famous K-Pax pills.

[madbrain]

Hello psfundude, welcome aboard,
1. I'm taking selenium, 350-400 micrograms a day, but
sometimes I forget to take it 

That is too much.
http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/selenium.asp#h3
The tolerable limit is 400 micrograms a day for adults . Unless you are getting zero selenium from your diet (very unlikely), you are taking too much selenium.
The recommended amount from the studies was 200 micrograms supplemental.

[madbrain]

Interestingly, selenium isn't one of the ingredients in those famous K-Pax pills.

Actually it is .

http://www.kpaxpharm.com/vitaminsandsupplements/immunesystemboosters/immune-support-caps

Click the "ingredients" tab. 8 capsules have 100 micrograms selenium.

[GNYC09]

nevermind! you're totally right.  I just checked my box and saw it listed.  I could've sworn it wasn't listed last time I looked.  

[attachment deleted by admin]

[tommy246]

whats the best food for selenium.

[veritas]

foods rich in selenium:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000127000000000000000.html

v

[GNYC09]

don't forget you can "overdose" on selenium. too many brazil nuts can actually be toxic.

[elf]

I don't like Brazil nuts, they are so fatty/greasy and flavorless.