Introduction
Oh well, the Education Board has had its fair share of fun (in my country) with the intelligence of a single-celled organism as usual, toying with the lives of hundred of thousands of students. I can't seem to understand why other countries hold the Indian education system in such high esteem because all it does is tests our ability to 'recall' information for an examination, and unfortunately that is the lowest objective according to Bloom's Taxonomy in education – which can really be equated to teaching a dog to respond to commands. There's one missing factor though – a serious dearth of intelligence based on which thousands of these so-called educators passed on their wisdom from generation to generation!
Take for example, studying chemistry, which is much like learning the periodic table backwards, pretty much pointless, leaving you with the career option of poking around with live animals & 'chemicals' in a dark lab somewhere. Yes, this is for the folks who know the periodic table backwards including knowing what lies between Bromine and Arsenic or between any other two elements.
Actually, the answer as to what lies between those two elements is Selenium… hehe! What the hell… I must admit though that some good came out of those trying years when one could have lobotomized me, and I would gone about my business as if nothing had happened while studying Inorganic and Organic Chemistry.
Selenium
Selenium is commonly found as a trace element in the soil as well in our body in small quantities. Since it is vital to many body processes, it is present in every cell of our body but especially in the pancreas, testes, spleen and our kidneys.
However, it is important to remember that Selenium can be just as as toxic in large quantities just as much as bromine or arsenic are, as cases of poisoning from commercial products that contain these elements have raised a lot of issues only recently. The intake level for infants is 40 micrograms as well as 400 micrograms for adults.
Benefits of Selenium
Now you monitor the intake (according to levels mentioned earlier), there are several benefits based on evidence and claims that Selenium seems to possess. Its ability to act as an antioxidant using glutathione peroxidase (GPX), a selenium-dependent enzyme, removing the harmful effects that are caused by free radicals in our bodies is the most popular benefit of all.
Its other notable benefits when it comes to human health are:
1) promoting normal liver and thyroid function
2) protection against heart disease (known as Keshan disease)
3) Prevention of prostate cancer
4) Improve asthma and intercranial pressure symptoms
5) Increases the rate of burn wound healing
6) Prevents the development of cataract
7) Blood disorders
8) Infection prevention
9) Aids Anti-aging
10) Prevention of high blood pressure and several infections
Some of these benefits have been identified by co-relating low selenium levels in the body to the disorder that the patient is suffering from. There are several other claims to selenium contributing positively to other disorders but substantial evidence is yet to be obtained.
Sources of Selenium
Some of the richest sources of selenium are found in products such as wheat germ, butter, garlic, grains, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, raisins, walnuts brewer's yeast, shellfish (such as lobster, oyster, shrimp, scallops), fresh-water and salt-water fish (such as red snapper, salmon, swordfish, tuna, mackerel, halibut, flounder, herring, smelts), kidney and liver.
In Closing
An education system must be based on fact rather than claims or how it has been done traditionally, and perhaps that's the only difference between academic systems in place and the research that is currently being conducted on the benefits of Selenium.
One way or another, lab rats will be used but at least these breakthroughs will culminate into results for the greater good. And for that to happen, identifying and eliminating stagnation due to traditional thinking is the key…
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