Free Radicals in the Body The Facts About Smoking Diseases, Premature Aging, and Cancer
Free radicals in the body cause tissue damage and premature aging.
The facts about
smoking show that free radicals are one of the greatest dangers of cigarette smoking and that continued smoking increases the load of
free radicals in the body depleting the antioxidant nutrients needed to neutralize them.
The term "free radical" comes from the fact that a molecule is damaged and the electrons are not paired up.
In other words there are some "lonely" electrons
on these molecules.
Having unpaired electrons makes the molecule quite unstable.
Such a molecule will have an affinity for other damaged molecules and as they pair together and join up, more and more
unstable and dangerous chemicals are formed. It is a dangerous chain reaction that continues making more and more unstable compounds in the body.
This chain reaction is how substances are changed and decomposed through high temperatures and burning.
So much for the chemistry lesson.
Facts About Smoking Diseases and Free Radicals in the Body
Free radical theory is an expanding body of knowledge. Just a few of the bits of knowledge
relevant to the dangers of cigarette smoking include good evidence to show that free radicals:
damage cells and accelerate the progression of
cancer and cardiovascular heart disease both of which are smoking diseases (animal studies).
contribute to carcinogenesis in many body organs - in other words they can cause cancer.
have a significant role in the pathology of smoking diseases such as
atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
contribute to alcohol-induced liver damage, perhaps more than alcohol itself.
are implicated in inactivation of certain enzymes in the lung which promotes the development of emphysema.
And of all the facts about smoking and free radicals here is the one that you should pay the most attention to:
A cigarette is free radical factory. The high temperatures are ideal for damaging molecules and
destabilizing the electron pairs in the many ingredients and
chemicals in cigarettes.
Under normal conditions your body has mechanisms designed to neutralize free radicals and keep your
tissues safe from harm. Many nutrients are used in the processes that keep these damaged electrons neutralized.
As long as the number of new damaged molecules
can be processed at the exact rate at which they are produced, the risk of cellular damage is small.
One of the real dangers of cigarette smoking is that you contribute free radicals to your body faster than they can be neutralized.
Over time the antioxidant nutrients needed for these neutralizing reactions become depleted.
This leaves you vulnerable to more damage from free radicals in the body and also a weakened immune system.
It should not be surprising then that smokers have a
weak immune system resulting in a higher rate of infection
than the non-smoking population.
Here is an article explaining the effect of
free radicals in the body in more detail - much more detail!
The purpose of the information provided here is to help you cooperate with your doctor and other
health practitioners. It is not intended to take the place of medical advice and you are encouraged to
discuss health concerns with your physician or a professional health care provider who is
familiar with you and your unique personal health context.
