Free radicals are created as an essential part of life when energy produced in the cells. During this process, free radicals are produced that are highly charged oxygen molecules and are harmful to the skin and the body in general. They are usually neutralized by antioxidants like vitamins C, E, etc. However, when the body is overwhelmed by free radicals, they overcome the antioxidants available, which may lead to wrinkling on the skin and may also be associated with precancerous and cancerous skin legions. The most common causes of free radicals are excess sun, smoking, stress and obesity. The best way to fight free radicals is with natural antioxidants, as well as topical antioxidant creams or lotions. The LONGIDERM Team worked on these subject.
Free radicals can steal an electron and break down another biomolecule such as loose proteins, sugars, fatty acids, etc. that are NOT part of a larger chemical structure. In these cases the free radical does little damage. If a free radical steals an electron from one of the proteins that is contained in a strand of collagen (rather than a loose protein), it causes a change in the chemical structure of the collagen at that point and causes a break in the collagen strand. This is damage. Once a bundle of collagen has multiple points of damage which occurs over years, the strand of collagen becomes dysfunctional and loses its elastic quality. The skin begins to sag. Over time free radical damage happens to the various components of the body and this damage is progressive.
Free radicals chip away at cell walls, molecule by molecule, making holes. The cells leak and lose their chemical balances. Subsequent free radicals are able to chip away at DNA, making cells dysfunctional. If this damage affects cellular DNA, the cell may malfunction and this is what happens cell by cell over the lifetime of a human being, ultimately causing entire organs to malfunction, because their cells malfunction. If the DNA of basal keratinocytes, for example, are damaged the cells may become dysfunctional and the basal cells will reproduce cells that are equally as damaged and dysfunctional, resulting in the aging and dysfunction of the skin and its various components. Aging is simply the progression of damage, caused by free radicals.
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