NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Plasma and aqueous humor levels of selenium influence the risk of developing primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), according to research from the University of Arizona.
Although selenium is essential for human health, large amounts have toxic effects, the authors explain.
Dr. R. J. Noecker, now at the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues from the University of Arizona in Tucson compared selenium levels in plasma and aqueous humor in 47 patients with POAG and 54 controls. Their results appear in the September British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Plasma and aqueous humor concentrations of selenium were higher in glaucoma patients than in controls, the authors report, but the differences were not significantly different.
However, they found, "the association of plasma selenium with glaucoma raised the odds ratios above one, suggesting risk, while the association of aqueous humor selenium with glaucoma lowered the odds ratios below one, suggesting a protective effect."
Read the full story at http://www.merckmedicus.com/pp/us/hcp/hcp_newsarticle.jsp?newsid=1177096&newsgroup=2&tab=1
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