NADH is a very potent Antioxidant (2 of 3)
Antioxidants & Parkinson's disease
. . . continued from the previous page

Free radicals cause good hard working cells to turn bad.

Free radical formation can be triggered by some medications including some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Free radical formation can also be triggered by smog, industrial pollution, smoking, chemicals that are environmental toxins, and heavy metals found in food and water.

Free radicals:
Free radicals damage cells and the cell's genes (DNA code) in very destructive ways. They do so by knocking out the needed electrons from normal molecules.

Our bodies are constantly regenerating its cells. It is believed that under normal conditions, every cell in the body will be replaced within 7 years. The exception to this rule is when a cell dies. Some cells have short life spans. For example, a blood cell's life span lasts about 4 months.

Damaging a cell's genes can cause problems for next generation of cells. Free radicals are extremely reactive molecules which interact with many compounds in our cells. The compounds most effected are the lipid containing structures (like the cell membrane.) A lipid is a type of fat.

Free radicals will react with the lipids of a cell membrane, violating the cell wall integrity. This will cause cell leakage and eventually will result in the death of the cell.

Where do free radicals come from?
Did you ever see a movie where people were to close to an atomic blast. On a grand scale, the body is damage by free radicals. Free radicals are formed in our cells by something knocking out electrons from a normal molecule.

Medical science has known for years that x-rays, high energy radiation, and even the sun's UV rays can create free radicals. In the past 20 years medical science has found that free radicals formation is also triggered by:

• environmental toxins, and some types of chemicals found around the home and office.
• drugs including some types of antibiotics and some anti-inflammatory medications.
• ozone, some types of smog, and some types of industrial pollutants.
• smoking, and alcohol.
• heavy metals that may be found in food and water.

Small amounts of free radicals are also produced in normal cells by metabolic reactions. Our body possess a defense system to protect its cells from being irreversibly damaged. This system is called the antioxidative protection shield.

This is where the word, "antioxidative - or anti-oxidation" comes from. The first and most important antioxidant component in this shield is NADH. It is the reduced form of coenzyme #1 also called NADH nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. It is the most potent biological antioxidant because it has the highest "reduction" of unpaired electrons.

In the presence of free radical inducers (like radiation) the intracellular content of free radicals increases considerably. The antioxidative protection system can cope with the natural amounts produced in the body. The system becomes overwhelmed when large amounts of free radicals are caused by the outside environment.

The more free radicals present in a cell, the more damage a cell suffers leading to earlier cell death. Increased cell death can lead to premature tissue degeneration. Medical science has shown that free radicals are involved in the development of neuro-degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Free radicals are also involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease, auto immune disease, cancer, coronary disease, artherosclerosis, diabetes, and much more.

Protection:
It is vital that a supply of antioxidants or free radical scavengers be sufficient to meet level of free radicals in our body. To keep a sufficient supply of antioxidants in the body an nutritional supplement may be necessary. One of the most potent antioxidants and free radical scavengers is NADH. NADH enters the cell from the outside world (our diet) and increases the intracellular antioxidant pool.

Elderly people can especially benefit from an antioxidant nutritional supplement (like NADH). It has been found that the antioxidant pool within the body declines with aging. This leaves the elderly more vulnerable to free radical damage and the diseases they cause.

. . . Antioxidant 3, continued on the next page