Symptoms Of A Selenium Deficiency

Shortness Of Breath

An individual's selenium deficiency may manifest as frequent shortness of breath or dyspnea as a symptom. The shortage of selenium inhibits the normal process that synthesizes a compound required to produce both T3 and T4 hormones. Without enough of both of these thyroid hormones, the lungs have a reduced hypercapnic ventilatory drive and hypoxic ventilatory drive. In addition, insufficient levels of thyroid hormone in the body can cause the patient to have myopathy or dysfunction of the muscle fibers. When muscle fibers experience dysfunction, the individual is unable to produce a full muscle movement with the exertion of their best effort. When this malfunction of myopathy occurs in the lungs, it results in a weakening of the lung muscles. These muscles control the inflation of the lungs upon inhalation, and deflation upon exhalation, and because these muscles are not working as they should be in selenium deficiency patients, they may feel like they are unable to inhale enough air. This sensation is also described as shortness of breath.

Learn more about the major warning signs of a selenium deficiency now.