§ Mr. HainTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment her Department has made of the effects of selenium deficiency; what those effects are; and what action she recommends to avoid selenium deficiency; [24166]
(2) if she will make a statement setting out her policy for combating dietary deficiency in selenium. [24169]
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Department of Health considered selenium deficiency as part of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy's review of dietary reference values for food energy and nutrients for the United Kingdom. A copy of this report is available in the Library. There is no deficiency disease known to result solely from selenium deficiency, although a specific cardiomyopathy may occur with low selenium intakes which responds to selenium. There is no evidence that selenium deficiency is a problem in the UK. No action is recommended specifically to avoid selenium deficiency.
§ Mr. HainTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received regarding research suggesting that selenium deficiency may speed or trigger the growth and spread of the AIDS virus; what action she proposes to take; and if she will make a statement. [24168]
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Department of Health has received no such representations. The Department is aware of a number of recent publications in the scientific literature on this topic and continues to monitor the situation. There is currently no clear evidence that selenium supplements produce an improvement in haematological or immunological parameters of disease progression in HIV-AIDS patients.