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RE: [SPAM] [RC] Selenium - heidiThought I'd update you on Gabriel's Se results. His blood serum level was .15, which my vet says is the low end of the normal range. Susan G recommended if possible I get it up to .25 - .3 ppm. Your vet is dealing with old figures. For years, "normal" was assumed to be about .16 to .20 ppm, largely because they were based on testing deficient populations. Schering did some research which was duplicated by (if memory serves) Michigan State. They were able to show diminished activity of selenium-dependent enzymes at levels below .20 ppm, and have established normals as being .20 to .25 ppm. Wouldn't be a thing wrong with being as high as Susan G states--still a very safe range. I have been supplementing 4 mg daily for 3 weeks now (I did get the Se yeast). Took Gabriel out for a 3 hr moderate training ride last week and he seemed like his old self. But when I took him out again yesterday he mostly wanted to walk (I let him choose) and his hr was slightly elevated, so I'm guessing I just need to take it slower and give him more time to get the Se levels up. I plan on having him restested in 4 weeks, and am hoping he'll be ready to take to a 50 then but we'll see. Sounds good regarding the retesting, but I'd wait to see what the levels are to see if your supplementation is adequate, and since he is showing you some signs of not being ready, I'd proceed toward 50 with caution until you've got both good levels and a horse that doesn't feel dumpy on training rides. I posted some info about testing hay and supplementing Se on the SWDRA list, and Barney Fleming DVM said that I should be testing muscle (biopsy) not blood level and that Se deficiency was extremely rare and that I should be concerned about over supplementing if giving any at all. I'm comfortable that I'm doing that right thing, but I feel like Barney is giving bad information. I'd be interested to know where Barney is getting that information. Two or more decades ago, the blood assays were not all that reliable, so it would be good to know if Barney is working on old information or if he has come up with something completely new. As for deficiency being rare--when I practiced in central Oregon, it was a rarity to test a horse that WASN'T deficient--some of them alarmingly so. It was not unusual there to do an assay on a non-supplemented horse and get levels in the .03-.05 ppm range. And some that were that severely deficient could NOT get their levels up with oral supplementation--I'd love to see work on my hypothesis that at extreme depletion, the gut becomes unable to transport the minerals to rectify the deficieny. Other cell membranes diminish in their function or sometimes cease function altogether in the face of selenium deficiency--so why not the gut? In any event, we could get those horses turned around with injectable E-Se to get the levels up in the first place, and then we could maintain them on oral supplementation once the levels got near normal. (I would expect a horse such as yours to be able to assimilate the oral selenium--he's deficient, but not clear down in the cellar.) Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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