FYI! SELENIUM, as Sodium Selenite helps decrease Lymphedema!

macb04

I saw a study about the Sodium Selenite type of Selenium helping decrease Lymphedema. I was amazed there is finally something new in the literature to help this terrible consequence of the bc industry "treatment "

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Treatment of secondary lymphedema of the arm with physical decongestive therapy and sodium selenite: a review.

Kasseroller RG1, Schrauzer GN.

Author information

1

Medical Department, Wittlinger's Therapy Center, Walchsee-Alpenbad GmbH, Walchsee, Austria.

Abstract

Secondary lymphedema (LE) in the proximal extremities develop with relatively high frequency in cancer patients after tumor resection, lymph-node obliteration, and/or postoperative irradiation. Physical therapy combined with manual or mechanical lymph drainage and compression bandaging provides symptomatic relief but does prevent the progression of degenerative changes in the affected tissues. As biochemical studies have linked these changes significantly to the excessive generation of oxygen radicals in the affected tissues, LE therapy should aim to eliminate oxygen radical production. Because selenium is a functional component of antioxidant enzymes, has anti-inflammatory properties, and reduces the expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules, its effect was investigated in postmastectomy patients with LE of the arm. Sodium selenite administered orally in isotonic solution (selenase) at oral dosages of 800 microg Se/day on days 1 through 4 and 500 microg Se/day on days 5 through 28 produced a spontaneous reduction in LE volume and normalized blood parameters in a manner consistent with diminished oxygen radical production. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study with postmastectomy LE patients undergoing combined physical decongestion therapy (CPDT), selenite at similar dosages increased the efficacy of CPDT and improved the mobility and heat tolerance of the affected extremity. The patients in this study received 1000 microg of Se/day orally during the first week, 300 microg Se/day during the second and third weeks, and a maintenance dose of 100 microg Se/day during 3 months of follow-up. All patients remained erysipelas-free during the 3 weeks of CPDT and the 3-month follow-up period. Based on the available evidence, supplementation with sodium selenite in isotonic solution is judged to be a valuable and safe extension of the physical decongestive therapy of LE.

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Sodium selenite and cancer related lymphedema: Biological and pharmacological effects.

Pfister C1, Dawzcynski H2, Schingale FJ3.

Author information

1

biosyn Arzneimittel GmbH, Schorndorfer Straße 32, 70734 Fellbach, Germany. Electronic address: chpfister@t-online.de.

2

biosyn Arzneimittel GmbH, Schorndorfer Straße 32, 70734 Fellbach, Germany.

3

Lympho Opt Fachklinik, Happurger Str. 15, 91224 Hohenstadt, Germany.

Abstract

A significant percentage of cancer patients develop secondary lymphedema after surgery or radiotherapy. The preferred treatment of secondary lymphedema is complex physical therapy. Pharmacotherapy, for example with diuretics, has received little attention, because they were not effective and only offered short-term solutions. Sodium selenite showed promise as a cost-effective, nontoxic anti-inflammatory agent. Treatment with sodium selenite lowers reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, causes a spontaneous reduction in lymphedema volume, increases the efficacy of physical therapy for lymphedema, and reduces the incidence of erysipelas infections in patients with chronic lymphedema. Besides biological effects in reducing excessive production of ROS, sodium selenite also displays various pharmacological effects. So far the exact mechanisms of these pharmacological effects are mostly unknown, but probably include inhibition of adhesion protein expression.

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Nutrients 2019, 11(5), 1021; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11051021

Article

Sodium Selenite Alleviates Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Independent of Antioxidant Defense System

by Hye Won Han 1,Eun Joo Yang 2,* andSeung-Min Lee 1,*

1

Department of Food and Nutrition, Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project, College of Human Ecology, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea

2

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam 13620, Korea

*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 3 April 2019 / Accepted: 3 May 2019 / Published: 7 May 2019

Abstract

:

Long-term surveillance is necessary to identify patients at risk of developing secondary lymphedema after breast cancer surgery. We assessed how sodium selenite supplementation would affect breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) symptoms and parameters in association with antioxidant effects. A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial was conducted on 26 participants with clinical stage II to III BCRL. The control group (CTRL, n = 12) and selenium group (SE, n = 14) underwent five sessions of 0.9% saline and 500 μg sodium selenite (Selenase®) IV injections, respectively, within 2 weeks. All patients were educated on recommended behavior and self-administered manual lymphatic drainage. Clinical diagnosis on lymphedema by physicians, bioimpedance data, blood levels of oxidative markers, including glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase activity (GSH-Px), and serum oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) levels, were investigated at timelines defined as baseline, 2-week, and follow-up. Sodium selenite increased whole blood selenium concentration in the SE group. Compared to the baseline, at 2 weeks, 75.0% of participants in clinical stage showed improvement, while there was no change in the CTRL group. At follow-up, 83.3% and 10.0% of the SE and CTRL, respectively, showed stage changes from III to II (p = 0.002). Extracellular water (ECW) ratios were significantly reduced at 2 weeks and follow-up, only in the SE group. Blood GSH, GSSG, GSH/GSSG ratio, MDA, and ORAC levels did not change by selenium supplementation. Sodium selenite improved diagnostic stages of BCRL along with ECW ratios, although the beneficial effect might not be related to its antioxidant activity. Selenite's effect on lymphedema may be associated with non-antioxidant properties, such as anti-inflammation and immune function. Further mechanistic research using a larger population is needed.

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Journal of the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine 2011;35(2):207-213.

The Effect of Sodium Selenite on Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema. Kim, Byung Hun , Hwang, Ki Hun , Jeong, Ho Joong , Kim, Ghi Chan , Sim, Young Joo Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-702, Korea. oggum@hanmail.net Abstract Objective To investigate the effects of complex decongestive physiotherapy (CDPT) with sodium selenite compared to the effects of CDPT without sodium selenite for the treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). Method Patients (n=40) who were diagnosed with BCRL were randomly assigned to the two groups: sodium selenite group or the non-sodium selenite group. In the sodium selenite group, sodium selenite was administered for 100 days concurrently with CDPT. In the non-sodium selenite group, only CDPT was administered. The main outcome measurements included limb circumference (proximal, distal and total) to indicate volume changes, the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the short form-36 version 2 questionnaire (SF-36) scores to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) pre- treatment, 100 days post-treatment and 130 days post-treatment for each patient. Results The sodium selenite group experienced volume reduction of 8.22% and 9.21%, at 100 and 130 days post- treatment, respectively. The non-sodium selenite group experienced 5.57% and 6.11% reduction in swelling at the same periods. Between the two groups, more significant volume reduction was observed in the affected distal limbs of patients assigned to the sodium selenite group compared to patients in the non-sodium group. However, the VAS and the SF-36 scores were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion Sodium selenite therapy in combination with CDPT is effective in reducing the volume of upper limb in BCRL, and significantly reduce the volume of the affected distal upper limb compared to CDPT alone.

Binney4

macb, thanks for posting this. Selenium is toxic at the wrong dosage, so if you're going to try this make sure you're being medically monitored by an alert and experienced doctor. Or get your selenium from Brazil nuts, where it's plentiful. There again, though, you'll want to be aware of selenium toxicity. The recommendation is no more than three big Brazil nuts a day.

Please keep us posted!
Hugs,
Binney

marijen

Selenium Benefits for Health, Plus Dosage Recommendations

https://draxe.com/nutrition/vitamins/selenium-bene...

macb04

bump, too important a topic to let it slide into obscurity.

MandaLynn

Very interesting. Just started eating Brazil nuts

Esther01

Great reminder to take Selenium during bc as well. Marnie Clark mentioned this today in her e-newsletter regarding all of the cancer fighting benefits.

I take two of the three forms that are most helpful. I get 100mg from my multivitamin, and use a liquid form of sodium selenate (i.e., 1 teaspoon) for the other 100mg , for a total of 200 mg selenium daily.

There is a vegetarian capsule where you can get all three forms of selenium, mentioned by Marnie Clark on the website.

Blessings,

Esther

buttonsmachine

Thanks for posting this information. I'm going to give this a try - I need all the help I can get! I'm in the middle of another bad LE flare. :-(

macb04

And I always want to remind people about outside the box options like Low Level Laser Therapy ( LLLT)

The effect of low-level laser therapy on quality of life in postmastectomy lymphedema patients

http://www.bmrat.org/index.php/BMRAT/article/view/628#tw-660be51fab1a

Binney4

JO-5, two a day should be enough to establish whether or not this even helps your LE. We are all so different! I tried Brazil nuts at length and didn't find it made a difference, but that might be because I already had enough selenium on board to do all it could do. It is certainly not a cure, and for many it doesn't seem to help at all. I'll be interested to see if others find it helpful. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it's summer, and that alone can cause issues with LE. As can various aspects of travel, which so many of us are eager to resume after the last year-and-a-half. Whenever this rotten condition flares it's a good idea to review all the possible reasons and make corrections based on that, rather than potentially overdoing it on selenium.

Onward!
Binney