What are free radicals?
Free radicals can participate in unwanted side reactions resulting in cell damage. Many forms of cancer are thought to be the result of reactions between free radicals and DNA, resulting in mutations that can adversely affect the cell cycle and potentially lead to malignancy. Some of the symptoms of aging such as atherosclerosis are also attributed to free-radical induced oxidation of many of the chemicals making up the body. Free radicals may also be involved in Parkinson’s disease, senile and drug-induced deafness, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s. The classic free-radical syndrome, the iron-storage disease hemochromatosis, is typically-associated with a constellation of free-radical-related symptoms including movement disorder, psychosis, skin pigmentary melanin abnormalities, deafness, arthritis, and diabetes. The free radical theory of aging proposes that free radicals underlie the aging process itself. Because free radicals are necessary for life, the body has a number of mechanism
