What Is Sodium Selenite Used For?

Sodium selenite, another name for selenium, is a mineral essential for optimal health, even though your body only needs small amounts. Sodium selenite is present in plant foods, in some meat and seafood, and in supplements. Selenium is touted as a treatment for a variety of diseases because it's an essential component of glutathione, your body's most potent natural antioxidant.

Cancer

It is believed that selenium can help fight cancer by boosting the antioxidant activity of certain enzymes, improving your immune system, slowing the metabolism of carcinogens, inhibiting tumor cell growth and increasing cancer cell death. Researchers at Cornell University published a study in "Biomedical and Environmental Sciences" in 1997 that was originally focused on the recurrence of different types of skin cancers in seven dermatology clinics from 1983 through 1993. Although selenium had no effect on skin cancer recurrence, selenium supplements significantly reduced the development and total death from all cancers.

Diabetes

The use of selenium in treating diabetes has been controversial, since some studies have showed that selenium has a protective effect while others have indicated that selenium raised diabetes risk. More recent research, such as one study published in "Nutrition & Metabolism" in March 2010, showed that older men who had high levels of selenium in their blood had a significantly reduced risk of developing blood sugar imbalances over the following nine years. There was no such reduced risk for women with elevated selenium levels. An April 2011 study published in the "European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences" found that low doses of insulin combined with selenium supplements normalized blood glucose levels in diabetic rats.

HIV

Although there are no cures for HIV/AIDS infections, the disease can lead to malnutrition and a selenium deficiency. The antioxidant effects of selenium help protect cells and may help slow progression of the disease by increasing the enzymatic defense systems in HIV-infected patients. After observing 24 children with HIV over five years, a study published in the "Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology" in 1999 showed that the children with low selenium levels died at a younger age, suggesting a selenium deficiency was associated with faster disease progression.

Skin Conditions

Cellulitis is a skin condition that causes painful blisters and fever that can occur as a side effect to other diseases. Researchers in Australia discovered in a study published in "Anticancer Research" in 1998 that a topical sodium selenite application reduced the incidence of the skin condition among cancer patients by 100 percent.

Thyroid Disease

One of the many jobs selenium performs in your body is to maintain proper thyroid function by regulating thyroid hormones. A team in Greece conducted a review of studies using selenium to treat patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid gland. The results, published in October 2010 in the journal "Thyroid," showed that selenium supplements for three months significantly lowered thyroid autoantibodies and boosted patients' feelings of well-being.