Aging: A Theory Based on Free Radical and Radiation Chemistry

Abstract

This 1956 paper describes a theory about mechanisms of aging that is based on free radical chemistry: "Aging and the degenerative diseases associated with it are attributed basically to the deleterious side attacks of free radicals on cell constituents and on the connective tissues. The free radicals probably arise largely through reactions involving molecular oxygen catalyzed in the cell by oxidative enzymes and in the connective tissues by traces of metals such as iron, cobalt, and manganese." Copyright (c) The Gerontological Society of America. Reproduced by permission of the publisher. Denham Harman, Aging: A Theory Based on Free Radical and Radiation Chemistry. J. Gerontol. 11 , 298-300 (1956).