News & Events

Younger Every Day?

By Kerstin Czarra, Medical Writer
"America's Doctor"

Everyone learned about Ponce de Leon in grade school. The Spanish explorer journeyed far and wide to find the body of water he believed would render him young forever. It seems four centuries later, men and women are searching for a new fountain of youth. This time it's not water, but something you take with water – antioxidants. Have we finally found the aging miracle or are we as misguided as Ponce was in the 16th century? Dr. Dean Kane of Lifebridge Health helped us navigate the waters of anti-aging medicine.

The ABCs of antioxidants

It's a term you hear a lot, but many are still not quite sure what it means exactly. Antioxidants as defined by a medical dictionary as: any of various substances (as beta-carotene, vitamin C, and alpha-tocopherol) that inhibit oxidation or reactions promoted by oxygen and peroxides and that include many held to protect the living body from the deleterious effects of free radicals. In plain English, antioxidants are believed to help alleviate many diseases including heart disease and cancer. The most common antioxidants are Vitamin C, E and beta-carotene. Their job is to fight the natural urge of oxygen to slowly break down muscle mass as you age.

Dr. Dean P. Kane explains how he sees their role in the anti-aging plan, "During the 1800s, essential co-factors necessary for vitality and health were discovered. These were in addition to food. These vitamins, as they are now called, like vitamin C, E, and A are important because they have antioxidant properties that include a cell and DNA protective function."

So what are these antioxidants fighting? Their common foe is a free radical. It's not some leftist regime; it's an uncharged atom that has lost part of its paired electrons. To solve this problem, the radical will indiscriminately attach its self to proteins or chemicals in the body. Leaving damaged cells in their wake. That's where disease comes in. Dr Kane adds, "if oxidation occurs beyond which the body is able to repair or replace itself, cells die and DNA is mutated. This causes aging."

The claims and the reality

When antioxidants first burst onto the health scene, there were claims that went from the common to the absolutely ridiculous. There has been significant research over the last ten years testing the use of antioxidants to treat heart disease, arthritis, cancer and help you live longer, healthier lives.

The heart of the matter

In a study conducted with Harvard researchers, over 80,000 female nurses were tested for their risk of heart disease after they consumed the highest amount of folate and B6, over 400 mg a day and 3 mg a day respectively. The women who consumed these amounts had about half the risk of heart disease over the next 14 years. (JAMA, 1998; 279: 359-364)

Taking the pain away

In a study published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases (1997; 56:649-655), researchers gave 42 patients with rheumatoid arthritis either 600 mg of natural vitamin E twice daily or a placebo. The researchers then measured anti-inflammatory activity and pain (the result of the disease) in the patients over the next 12 weeks. While it did not act as an anti-inflammatory, the antioxidant reduced pain in the patients.

Keeping cancer at bay

A study conducted by the National Institute on aging found significant support for the use of Vitamin E. Researchers found that subjects who took Vitamin E supplementation over a nine-year period (1984-1993) had a 27 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality, a 41 percent reduction in heart disease risk, and a 22 percent reduction in death from cancer.

Staying young

A study at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that Vitamin E could delay or prevent age-related degradation of a crucial strand of proteins in the brain and white blood cells. The proteins, Band 3 proteins, are found in all mammalian cells. This suggests that the findings on the animals will also benefit people.

The study, "Vitamin E Prevents Oxidative Modification of Brain and Lymphocyte Band Three Proteins During Aging," was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It found that "antioxidants may play an important role in preventing free radical damage associated with aging by interfering directly in the generation of radicals or by scavenging them,"

One order of antioxidants, please

Dr. Kane explains the benefits of antioxidants: "Our bodies survive and depend on a delicate biological and physiological balance. A disruption to the balance causes poor functioning and eventually disease. There can be too much of a bad or good thing. Taking large doses of antioxidants can be equally as bad as accumulating too many oxidants."

So how do you get the balance? Dr Kane explains, "We have increasing mental, physical, and environmental stresses placed on us daily. These stresses produce the ongoing production of free radical formation and ultimately disease. At the same time, our diets contain too many refined food sources, limited protein intake, reduced vitamin levels and high fat content. This causes poor protection and antioxidant effectiveness. Supplements of antioxidants are a great way to protect the body from free radical damage."