Dr Stranges presents his lecture: ‘Selenium and Chronic Disease’.
Abstract: The lecture will provide an overview on the use of selenium and other dietary supplements in relation to the following aspects: epidemiological trends, social, cultural and legislative context.
Relevant scientific literature will be discussed with regard to benefits and risks associated with dietary supplements on chronic disease, specifically cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and mortality.
A specific focus will be on selenium, an essential trace mineral with anti-oxidant properties that has been hypothesized to prevent cancer and possibly other chronic disease. The following aspects will be addressed: a) physiological role of selenium; b) scientific evidence on the relationship between selenium status/ supplementation and chronic disease; c) ongoing studies; d) future directions.
Biography: Dr. Stranges is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Cardiovascular Epidemiology at the University of Warwick Medical School. He was previously an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine in the School of Public Health at the State University of New York in Buffalo, USA. His research primarily focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In particular, he studies the effects of traditional and emerging risk factors as well the effects of non-pharmacological interventions in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In the time spent in Buffalo, Dr Stranges had the opportunity to collaborate with Drs. Jim Marshall and Mary Reid from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in the context of the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer (NPC) Trial. Specifically, he led a series of secondary analyses from the NPC trial, aimed at examining the effect of long-term selenium supplementation on cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.