Alzheimer's Disease and Antioxidant Therapy - Part I

By William K. Summers, MD
© 1999-William K. Summers, MD

Picture the nerve cells as an automobile. The surface of the car is analogous to the cell membrane, which contains or "holds in" many treasured parts that make it function. Each brand of automobile has distinctive general form, with detailed curves and ornaments on its surface. Likewise, the surface of each cell has unique lipoproteins called receptor sites. These receptor sites stick out of the cell surface like hood ornaments. They make each cell distinct. Each type of cell also has a distinct general form. Some nerve cell types are long (up to four feet). Other nerve cell types are short and stubby. As the automobile has an engine, which makes it run, the cell has the nucleus, which contains DNA. This is the cell "engine" that makes the cell "run". The automobile has a gas tank that provides the energy to run the car. The nerve cell has gas tanks called "mitochondria" which store energy called ATP. Finally, the automobile functions when the gasoline is burned in the engine and causes the drive train to move the wheels. In the cell, the energy (ATP) drives the engine of the cell (DNA) to make specialized proteins (enzymes) that run the chemistry of the cell. You now have a crude map of the nerve cell.

Over time, automobiles age and break down. Nerve cells and other cell types in the body also age. The wear and tear of time on cells is called "FREE RADICAL DAMAGE". A free radical occurs when a chemical has an extra, unmatched electron. To demonstrate how free radicals do damage, pour some Clorox on a cloth and leave it for a while. Don't get any on your skin. Recall that hydrochloric acid is HCl. In water, HCl breaks down to H (hydrogen) and Cl (chloride). The chloride is a free radical with an extra electron. This extra electron is what does the damage when acid "burns" the skin or destroys a piece of clothing. The free radical, searching for something to which to bind, races around. In this example, it binds to and destroys the cloth. If you spill Clorox on your skin is binds to and burns the skin.

Now, inside a nerve cell, the production of ATP creates very local free radicals in the mitochondria (gas tank), endoplasmic reticulum (fuel line), and nucleus (engine). The leakage is far less than 5%, but as time goes on this does damage. It would be as if your car has a very small gasoline leak in the tank, fuel line and engine. Over time it would corrode and age the car. The FREE RADICAL HYPOTHESIS OF NERVE CELL DEGENERATION basically states that this leak of electron imbalanced chemicals inside the cell will cause damage over time. Ultimately the damage kills the cell. When enough cells are killed, the brain malfunctions and we call that Alzheimer's disease. What can be done?

One answer is to supplement the diet with antioxidants, which slowly reverse the free radical damage. Next time, we will discuss the many types of antioxidants and how they help the cell to remain "young".

This article appeared in the "New Mexico Senior Citizens News", Winter, 1999. The NM Senior Citizen News publishes these articles monthly. You can pick up a copy of the paper at your closest New Mexico Senior Citizen Center.