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Nuero-degenerative Diseases

Oxidative Stress and the Brain - Dr. Ray Strand

Have you ever thought about your ability to think? Thinking about thinking-now there's a concept! When you reach back into your memory banks and recall a vivid childhood experience or that special moment with your family, do you ever marvel at how you can remember even some of the smallest details~ Stop reading for a moment and take a look out your window. Have you ever considered with amazement your colored, wide-angled, binocular vision? This is all possible only with God's marvelous creation, the brain.

The brain is our most precious organ because without its full function, we humans simply exist, unable to relate to the world around us. My mother died of an aggressive brain tumor that affected her ability to interpret speech and to speak. It was the most frustrating time of my life because she couldn't understand what we were saying. When we told her we loved her, all we got was in return was a blank stare. Her own words were garbled and made no sense at all. Needless to say, protecting my brain has definitely become a priority.

It should come as no surprise to you now that even the brain (central nervous system) and our nerves (peripheral nervous system) are not out of the reach of oxidative stress. This common enemy has been strongly implicated in a variety of diseases that wreak devastating damage on the brain and nerves, known as neurodegenerative diseases.2 Some of these include Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's chorea. In fact there are several reasons why the brain and the nerves are especially vulnerable to oxidative stress:

o Relative to its size, the brain experiences an increased rate of oxidative activity, which creates a significant number of free radicals.

o The normal activity which various chemicals create to establish nerve conduction is a major producer of free radicals.

o The brain and nerve tissue contain relatively low levels of antioxidants.

o Millions of nonreplicable cells make up the central nervous system. This means that once they are damaged, they are most likely dysfunctional for life.

o The brain and nervous system are easily disrupted. A small amount of damage in a critical area can cause severe problems.

The brain is the most important organ of our body. Our thoughts, emotions, our ability to reason and communicate with the outside world are all in danger if something damages our brain. How can we best defend this most precious asset' It is not just a matter of trying to avoid the devastation of neurodegenerative diseases, but first and foremost, it is a matter of protecting our ability to think and reason.

Aging of the Brain

Oxidative stress is the leading cause of the aging process. Nowhere is evidence for this concept stronger than when it comes to the actual aging of the brain. Several scientific studies have shown oxidative damage to the mitochondria (the furnace of the cell) and to the DNA of the brain cell. This can lead to the malfunction or even the death of these very sensitive brain cells.3 As I have pointed out, brain cells do not have the ability to regenerate themselves. So as we lose more and more brain cells throughout our lifetime due to this oxidative damage, the brain simply does not function as well as it did when we were younger. In medical terms this leads to what is called loss of cognition. In lay terms this is a decrease in our ability to think or reason. Therefore, oxidative damage to our sensitive brain cells is the greatest enemy to the functioning of our brain.

Aging of the brain is essentially the first stage of degeneration of these very important cells in our body. Just as we don't contract other degenerative diseases out of the blue, people don't just wake up one day and have Alzheimer's dementia or Parkinson's disease. These diseases represent the end stages of oxidative damage to the brain. They are merely part of a progression that begins with the aging of the brain. When eventually enough brain cells are damaged, a disease manifests. When a patient is first diagnosed as having Parkinson's disease, more than 80 percent of the brain cells in a particular part of the brain called the substantia nigra have already been destroyed. The same is true for someone who develops Alzheimer's dementia. These neurodegenerative diseases have actually been developing over a period of ten to twenty years.4

"What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You."
Dr. Ray Strand http://www.raystrand.com/bookstore.asp