X-Message-Number: 14428
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2000 11:37:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: about antioxidants and human aging

In Message #14421 Thomas Donaldson <> wrote:

> (My opinion. There are gerontologists who have bought the antioxidant
> theory almost completely).
> 
  I have to agree with Thomas on this. The gerontological medical
literature is filled with references to the importance of oxidative damage 
in aging. Yet antioxidants repeatedly have been found to exert little or
no effect on maximum lifespan in mammals.
  Various explanations for these unexpected results have been sold in
medical journals. However one large fact counters these quite
effectively. Guess which animal's cells have more antioxidants? 

   1. A mouse with a 3 year lifespan.
   2. A human with a 100 year lifespan.

  That's right, the answer is 1. Human cells are nonetheless far more
resistant to the damaging effects of oxidants, and it is this property
that just might have something to do with the human's 30 times greater
lifespan.

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