Free Radicals in the Brain Aging, Neurological, and Mental Disorders

There is an increasing body of literature suggesting that at some stage during the development of most human diseasesfree radicals may be involved,and therefore retarded byantioxidants. Although in some cases this evidenceis onlycircumstantial, it is becoming overwhelming. In particular,certain brain disorders and aging itself appear to involvefree radicals and free radical reactions in generatingdamage associated with chronic degenerative disorders. Withrespect to the brain, examples are epilepsy, Alzheimer'sdisease, Parkinson's disease, tardive dyskinesia, aging ofthe brain, and others. Thus, the idea that antioxidantintervention may help to prevent or retard brain disordersis an area of increasing interest. As a result, this bookshould find wide interest in the biomedical field and is ofparticular importance for the neurosciences.