The importance of free radicals and catalytic metal ions in human diseases

Abstract

The study of free radical reactions is not an isolated and esoteric branch of science. A knowledge of free radical chemistry and biochemistry is relevant to an understanding of all diseases and the mode of action of all toxins, if only because diseased or damaged tissues undergo radical reactions more readily than do normal tissues. However it does not follow that because radical reactions can be demonstrated, they are important in any particular instance. We hope that the careful techniques needed to assess the biological role of free radicals will become more widely used.