HOW DO AGING-RELATED DISEASES DEVELOP?
In order to understand how we can limit the damage from chronic illnesses and aging, we need to understand how some of the chronic illnesses develop.
Cardiovascular or heart disease is a leading cause of death in our society. Everyone has some degree of blood vessel disease or damage. The vessels which bring blood to heart muscles become damaged when fat from our diet becomes hard and blocks the blood flow (atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis). There are several thoughts on how this happens but the main theory is that bad cholesterol (LDL-C) is oxidized (lipid peroxidation).
What is oxidation?
All body cells use oxygen to make energy and to function. Oxidation occurs every time oxygen is burned as a food for energy. The oxygen mixes with different compounds (proteins, fat, etc.) or molecules to form highly unstable and highly reactive molecules called free radicals. The body likes all of its molecules/atoms to have even numbers of electrons. When the oxygen mixes with the molecule it gains an extra electron, making it an unstable free radical with an uneven number of electrons. It is important to remember that environmental factors like smoking, radiation, pollution, hypertension, a high-fat diet, and elevated blood sugars can also oxide the body cells to form free radicals. The main types of free radicals are called superoxide, hydroxyl, singlet oxygen, peroxyl, and hydrogen peroxide molecules. They are even formed during infections (oxidation is necessary for health because oxidation is needed to kill microorganisms) or chronic inflammation when free radicals are formed to fight the infection and overproduce themselves. Even strenuous exercise will increase the production of free radicals. These free radicals like to hook to other cells to steal electrons and cause a major chain reaction as each cell tries to steal electrons. These unstable molecules commonly damage the cell membranes (by attaching to unsaturated fatty acids), weaken blood vessel walls, affect immune cells, modify protective enzymes, and hinder how the cell functions. They cause a lot of inflammation and even scar tissue from their damage. The free radicals can also damage cell proteins and even alter DNA within the cell. It has been estimated that the human body generates 1-3 billion free radicals a day! It is thought that the DNA in each of our trillion-plus cells is bombarded by 10,000 free radicals a day. No wonder there is evidence that more than 200 diseases are caused by free-radical damage. Blindness, arthritis, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and even physical aging can result from free-radical damage.
