narkia at clinet.fi (Matti Narkia) writes:
>jmsdean at pipeline.com wrote:
>>lastly, why is stopping free radical production, as opposed to using
>>scaverngers like anti-oxidants, not a current possibility.
>I'm not an expert in these matters, but according to my understanding a
>certain amount of free radicals is useful and necessary for the human body.
>Some cells in the immune system for example use free radicals to destroy
>bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. It's the uncontrolled overproduction of
>free radicals which is the problem.
It is not uncontrolled "overproduction". It is better to
think of them as necessary evils.
As with any process where evolution occurs, we (i.e.
humans/mammals/animals/cellular life forms) are the result of
a number of compromises. One part of our system wants to produce
lots of free radicals whereas other parts don't. So we have a
compromise where enough are produced to help fight disease but
sufficient to cause problems with cellular degeneration later in
life.
Paul...
>Matti Narkia
