Selenium Supplement Could Boost Memory in Older People, New Study

Hazelnuts drying on the ground after being collected at a nut orchard. AFP
Hazelnuts drying on the ground after being collected at a nut orchard. AFP
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Selenium Supplement Could Boost Memory in Older People, New Study

Hazelnuts drying on the ground after being collected at a nut orchard. AFP
Hazelnuts drying on the ground after being collected at a nut orchard. AFP

Selenium – a mineral found in many foods – could reverse the cognitive impact of stroke and boost learning and memory in aging brains, according to University of Queensland research. The findings were published in the latest issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

Lead researcher Dr. Tara Walker said studies on the impact of exercise on the aging brain found levels of a protein key to transporting selenium in the blood were elevated by physical activity.

“Our study investigated whether dietary selenium supplements could replicate the effects of exercise. Our models showed that selenium supplementation could increase neuron generation and improve cognition in elderly mice," Walker said.

The levels of new neuron generation decrease rapidly in aged mice, as they do in humans. When selenium supplements were given to the mice, the production of neurons increased, reversing the cognitive deficits observed in aging.

Selenium is an essential trace mineral absorbed from soil and water and is found in foods such as grains, meat and nuts, with the highest levels found in Brazil nuts. The scientists also tested whether selenium would have an impact on the cognitive decline sometimes experienced following stroke, which can affect people's memory and ability to learn.

"Young mice are really good at the learning and memory tasks, but after a stroke, they could no longer perform these tasks. We found that learning and memory deficits of stroke affected mice returned to normal when they were given selenium supplements," Walker said.

The results opened a new therapeutic avenue to boost cognitive function in people who were unable to exercise due to poor health or old age. "However, selenium supplements shouldn't be seen as a complete substitute for exercise, and too much can be bad for you," she said.

"A person who is getting a balanced diet of fruits, nuts, veggies and meat usually has good selenium levels. But in older people, particularly those with neurological conditions, selenium supplements could be beneficial,” Walker concluded.



D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st Anniversary of Landings

Military aircraft perform a flyover during a memorial ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy, at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, north-western France, on June 6, 2025. (AFP)
Military aircraft perform a flyover during a memorial ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy, at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, north-western France, on June 6, 2025. (AFP)
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D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st Anniversary of Landings

Military aircraft perform a flyover during a memorial ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy, at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, north-western France, on June 6, 2025. (AFP)
Military aircraft perform a flyover during a memorial ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy, at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, north-western France, on June 6, 2025. (AFP)

Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings — a pivotal moment of World War II that eventually led to the collapse of Adolf Hitler's regime.

Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations, which included parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance ceremonies, parades, and historical reenactments.

Many were there to cheer the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90s and older. All remembered the thousands who died.

Harold Terens, a 101-year-old US veteran who last year married his 96-year-old sweetheart near the D-Day beaches, was back in Normandy.

"Freedom is everything," he said. "I pray for freedom for the whole world. For the war to end in Ukraine, and Russia, and Sudan and Gaza. I think war is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting."

Terens enlisted in 1942 and shipped to Great Britain the following year, attached to a four-pilot P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron as their radio repair technician. On D-Day, Terens helped repair planes returning from France so they could rejoin the battle.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commemorated the anniversary of the D-Day landings, in which American soldiers played a leading role, with veterans at the American Cemetery overlooking the shore in the village of Colleville-sur-Mer.

French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu told Hegseth that France knows what it owes to its American allies and the veterans who helped free Europe from the Nazis.

"We don’t forget that our oldest allies were there in this grave moment of our history. I say it with deep respect in front of you, veterans, who incarnate this unique friendship between our two countries," he said.

Hegseth said France and the United States should be prepared to fight if danger arises again, and that "good men are still needed to stand up."

"Today the United States and France again rally together to confront such threats," he said, without mentioning a specific enemy. "Because we strive for peace, we must prepare for war and hopefully deter it."

The June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France used the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Hitler’s defenses in western Europe. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself.

In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle — and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed around 20,000 French civilians between June and August 1944.

The exact number of German casualties is unknown, but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone.

Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day.

Of those, 73,000 were from the US and 83,000 from Britain and Canada. Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with Gen. Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced around 50,000 German forces.

More than 2 million Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and other people from a dozen countries were involved in the overall Operation Overlord, the battle to wrest western France from Nazi control that started on D-Day.