High Iron, Copper Levels Block Brain-Cell DNA Repair

As in most things, balance is necessary.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110520125049.htm

ScienceDaily (May 20, 2011) — No one knows the cause of most cases of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative disorders. But researchers have found that certain factors are consistently associated with these debilitating conditions. One is DNA damage by reactive oxygen species, highly destructive molecules usually formed as a byproduct of cellular respiration. Another is the presence of excessive levels of copper and iron in regions of the brain associated with the particular disorder.

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A high level of copper or iron, they say, can function as a "double whammy" in the brain by both helping generate large numbers of the DNA-attacking reactive oxygen species and interfering with the machinery of DNA repair that prevents the deleterious consequences of genome damage

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Humans ordinarily have small amounts of iron and copper in their bodies -- in fact, the elements are essential to health. But some people's tissues contain much larger quantities of iron or copper, which overwhelm the proteins that normally bind the metals and sequester them for safe storage. The result: so-called "free" iron or copper ions, circulating in the blood and able to initiate chemical reactions that produce reactive oxygen species

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