|
|
A new study conducted by an Australian team has proved that selenium, which has rich anti-cancerous properties, can help in lowering the risk associated with the development bowel cancer.
Selenium, a mineral found in many foods including seafood, grains and eggs, has the potential to enhance the body’s antioxidant processes to play a range of other beneficial roles.
It triggers the “apoptosis”, which is a critical process allowing the cells to kill themselves if they detect an error.
“When a cell realises that something has gone wrong, it can trigger its own death so the cell doesn’t become a problem,” says. Graeme Young, head of Flinders Centre for Cancer Prevention and Control at Adelaide’s Flinders University.
“What the selenium does is just make the cell better at perceiving that it has to kill itself.”
Selenium has one more benefit. It has the potential for reducing DNA damage, which will make the cells to ‘misbehave’ less.
“When we put it all together, selenium looks a potentially useful agent when it comes to reducing our risk of getting a range of different cancers,” he said.
His last year’s study found that mice fed extra selenium lowered incidence of bowel cancer by 60 per cent.
