STUDIES ON THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF KESHAN DISEASE AND SELENIUM STATUS OF POPULATIONS AND LOCAL ENVIRONMENT IN SICHUAN
- VernacularTitle:四川省克山病的某些流行特点与硒的内外环境调查
- Author:
Yunyu CHENG
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- From:
Acta Nutrimenta Sinica
1956;0(03):-
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
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Abstract:
The relationships between some of the epidemiological characteristics of Keshan disease and the selenium status of populations and local environment in Sichuan province were investigated. The average Se contents of grains (rice, corn, wheat, soybean) and human hair in the heavy endemic areas were below 0.024 and 0.1 ppm respectively; while those in the non-endemic areas some distant from the endemic areas were above 0.04 and 0.2 ppm. These differences were statistically significant. However, the average Se contents of grains and human hair of the light endemic areas were not significantly different from those of the non-endemic areas. In endemic areas, hair Se contents of the susceptible children from peasant families were significantly lower than those from staff and professional fami- lies, and the hair Se contents of the children were significantly lower than those of the adults. These results are in consistent with the epidemi-ological characteristics of Keshan disease. However, there are some characteristics that cannot be explained by the Se deficient theory. For example, the hair Se contents of populations in the endemic areas did not change consistently with the seasonal variations of the incidence rates. The possility of using hair Se content as one of the reference indices for the forecast of epidemics of this disease is discussed.
