It would help combat prostate cancer. It had the power to fend off skin melanomas. It was even purported to rid humans of dangerous toxins entering the food chain through the oceans' fish. But now it appears that the almost magical powers of the supplement selenium could be nothing more than a myth.
New research from Germany's Institute for Transdisciplinary Health Research, in Berlin, casts serious doubt over long-established claims made for the powers of selenium. The Cochrane Systematic Review of 55 previous studies focused on evidence of links between selenium exposure and cancer risk. Re-assessing the results of observational studies has led the researchers to conclude that selenium alone cannot be cited as the cause of a lower cancer risk in case subjects. A further review of randomised, controlled trials also failed to confirm that taking selenium supplements reduced cancer risk.
"It's a really sad thing about selenium," concedes Dr Helen Rippon, head of research management at the UK Prostate Cancer Charity (www.prostate-cancer.org.uk). "All the initial laboratory data seemed to suggest it could be particularly useful in combating prostate cancer, but when it came down to the really big human-based trials it just didn't cut it."
Until the latest findings, the news for selenium, a mineral found naturally in Brazil nuts, red meat, fish, and grains, had been very positive. It became popular as a supplement in the late 1990s because researchers believed it could help prevent cancer - prostate in particular.
As recently as 2009, one study hailed selenium for it's ability to protect Inuits in northern Canada from the potentially harmful effects on their white blood cells from PCB toxins in fatty fish. At the other end of the earth, Australian researchers reported in the April 2009 Abstract of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention that high levels of selenium in the blood could halve a person's risk of skin cancer.
In Britain that year, scientists even discussed "sowing" selenium into the food chain - as an additive to farm fertilisers - to boost the population's intake of a nutrient that the media reported could "reduce the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer".
But later in 2009 a study of more than 35,000 men published in the Jama, the journal of the American Medical Association, showed that taking a 200 microgram supplement of selenium a day did not protect against prostate cancer, nor any other cancer for that matter. Even worse were follow-up reports from the US suggesting that taking selenium pills over a number of years could upset the body's ability to metabolise sugar and so increase the risk of diabetes in some men in particular.
Rippon believes that selenium is just one of a number of dietary supplements that have hit the health headlines in the past more through media hyperbole and marketing than creditable research. "So many of the claims about supplements add up to nothing," she says. "But because human nature dictates that we want a shortcut approach to things, even our health, there's always a big push in press whenever a possible 'cure-all' pill is hinted at.
"In truth, only a balanced, nutritious diet will help reduce the risk factors associated with many of these killer diseases. It's boring so it's not newsworthy I guess, but eating healthily with a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables is the key."
In the German review of selenium studies some of the most reliable data suggested that organic selenium might reduce the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer. But even then, the authors concluded that among people who are adequately nourished, there was no convincing evidence that adding supplements would prevent cancer.
The latest findings on the failings of selenium supplements are mirrored by results from a trial of 300 men with a high risk of prostate cancer by Canadian urologists. Published this month, the study also found that a combination of selenium, vitamin E and soy in a supplement had no significant effect on the risk of developing the illness.
According to Rippon, the results of supplement trials are often seized upon and linked to possible "cures" before there is any credible evidence. "Just because something kills cancer cells in a Petri dish in a laboratory doesn't mean it will work elsewhere. Washing-up liquid could kill cells in a dish but that doesn't mean you want people to take it.
"What I'd like to see is for the supplement-makers to pour millions of pounds into long-term cohort trials stretching over 20 or 30 years and looking at how people taking supplements fare in the long term compared with those who don't. Then we'd really have something to work with."
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Arsenal's pre-season fixtures
Thursday Beat Sydney 2-0 in Sydney
Saturday v Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney
Wednesday v Bayern Munich in Shanghai
July 22 v Chelsea in Beijing
July 29 v Benfica in London
July 30 v Sevilla in London
more from Janine di Giovanni
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,000mm, Winners: Mumayaza, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winners: Sharkh, Pat Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: The President’s Cup Prep - Conditions (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Abu Dhabi Equestrian Gold Cup - Prestige (PA) Dh125,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: Al Ruwais – Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nibras Passion, Bernardo Pinheiro, Ismail Mohammed
Get Out
Director: Jordan Peele
Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford
Four stars
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
