Cancer looms large in New Zealand as a killer with whom we wage ware.
It is our single biggest killer – responsible for nearly a third of all deaths – and a major cause of hospitalisation.
There is a reason we talk about terrorism in terms of cells and sleeper cells – cancer really is the ultimate domestic terrorist.
Since the 1970s international studies have shown the lower the selenium intake in a country the more likely people are to die of cancers.
In chapter eight of Just Cause and Effect – selenium deficiency in New Zealand we unpick the statistics and examine the international studies showing higher dietary selenium levels both reduce the incidence of cancer and improve survival rates of sufferers.
