FuturePundit Randall Parker has the scoop on a single gene that influences the age at which both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's set in. Money quote:
It is worth noting that glutathione serves as an intracellular antioxidant that gets oxidized in order to reduce free radicals to less harmful forms. It is not at all surprising that a gene playing a role in antioxidant metabolism would turn out to influence age of onset for two different neurodegenerative diseases. A body that expresses a higher level of genes that detoxify free radicals is, all else equal, not going to age as rapidly as one that expresses those genes at a lower level.
So this is why a lot of people (myself included) take supplements that are supposed to be antioxidants. I wonder if they really are of some help in warding off these diseases?
Posted by Phil at October 24, 2003 11:43 AM | TrackBackYes, antioxidants contain concentrated amounts of cystine, and cystine maintains effective levels of glutathione in the lymphocytes