The Tromso heart study: Serum selenium and risk of myocardial infarction a nested case-control study

Abstract

The association between serum selenium concentration and the risk of myocardial infarction was studied in a nested case-control study. Altogether 59 men, initially free of disease, aged 28-54 at the time of blood sampling, died suddenly or experienced a fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction during a six year follow-up period. Case-control pairs came from a population of 9364 persons examined in 1979-80 in the second Tromso Heart Study. No significant difference was observed between serum selenium in cases and controls (p=0.34). The major determinants of myocardial infarction and sudden death were raised levels of serum cholesterol and triglycerides (p<0.001) and high systolic blood pressure (p<0.05). Thus, in this population with intermediate selenium intake, low serum selenium is not associated with an excess risk of myocardial infarction.