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MARKET AMERICA
ISOTONIX OPC-3
OPC-3
combats the effect of free radicals and promotes/supports:
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Healthy blood vessel dilation
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Healthy nitric oxide levels
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A healthy complexion
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Healthy blood glucose levels
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Healthy platelet activity
Medical College of Wisconsin Free Radical Research Center
Long Term Goals -
To promote translational research in free radical-mediated diseases at the Medical College of Wisconsin and neighboring institutes.
To understand the mechanism of action of antioxidants (i.e., agents that scavenge or inhibit free radical formation) in human disease.
To develop therapeutic interventions in free radical based disease processes.
To develop and share a comprehensive knowledge base in all aspects of free radical reactions and free radical scavengers in basic and clinical research.
To develop the capability of non-invasive imaging of free radicals in diseases using animal models. |
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What are Free
Radicals and what do they do? |
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 Have you ever noticed how an
apple will turn brown when its surface is cut? Or how nails rust?
This process is known as oxidation. It occurs when high
levels of oxygen react to the exposed surfaces. The very same
process is occurring in our bodies every second of the day. Each
time we take a breath, the oxygen we take in becomes part of the
oxidation process, a by-product of which is free radicals.
Free radicals are
molecules of oxygen with unpaired electrons that float freely
throughout our bodies seeking to rebalance themselves by stealing
electrons from healthy cells. This scavenging process can create a
dangerous chain reaction that may wreak havoc by killing healthy
cells and damaging tissue. It even speeds up the aging process as
skin loses its elasticity, muscles weaken, hair thins, eyesight and
hearing fail, teeth decay, immunity decreases and degenerative
diseases increase.
Many aging and health
problems occur because of free-radical oxidation. Human aging, many
cancers, and most degeneration of the brain involve uncontrolled
oxidation.
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Oxidation is essential for life. However, when oxygen is uncontrolled, oxidation
occurs and free radicals are formed in the body. Free radicals are chemically
unstable molecules that cause tissue and organ damage. Free radical damage is
the first step in virtually every health problem and degenerative disease. Free
radical damage is even thought to be the basis for the aging process.
Cross-linkage is only one example of the damage free radicals can inflict. They
can supposedly split up molecules, garble information in cells, clog cell
membranes, promote cancerous mutations, and impair the function of the
mitochondria (the energy factories inside each cell). Free radicals will attack
almost any molecule; the extent of the damage they do is so wide ranging that
the free radical theory of aging has grown in popularity with each passing
decade.
During the course of everyday metabolism in an air-breathing (aerobic) organism,
oxygen generates many toxic free radicals such as the superoxide radical, the
hydroxyl radical, the singlet oxygen radical, and the hydrogen peroxide radical.
Fortunately, the cellular damage of these compounds can be kept to a minimum by
the quenching effect of antioxidants. |
