The effect of selenium-fortified table salt in the prevention of Keshan disease on a population of 1.05 million.

The preventive effect of selenium (Se)-fortified table salt against Keshan disease (an endemic myocardiopathy) was tested on 1.05 million people with another 0.6 million people as the control. The average annual incidence of acute and subacute types of the disease significantly decreased from 25.23 to 2.7 per 100,000 in the Se-supplemented population, while the corresponding rate in the control decreased from 19.76 to 7.36 per 100,000. Furthermore, the detection rate of new cases of a latent type of Keshan disease in the Se-supplemented group (0.18%) was significantly lower than that in the control group (1.07).