Are You Stressed Enough for a Longer Life? Reactive Oxygen Specimen and Oxidative Stress May Contribute to Longevity
In June 2010 my fellow countrymen Michael Ristow from the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Leipzig formed an interesting hypothesis ( Ristow. 2010 ) stating that the dreaded reactive oxygen species [ROS], most scientists associate with accelerated cell-aging and degenerative diseases were in fact " essential signaling molecules which are required to promote health and longevity ". In a more recent paper he picks this hypothesis up and, in cooperation with Sebastian Schmeisser from the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Nuthetal, Germany, reviews the current literature on selected longevity-promoting intervention. Figure 1: Health and longevity as a function of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Both too much and too little ROS are detrimental, due to either insufficient stimulus for or overtaxing of hormetic processes (this graph is a mere illustration and is not based on any existing exp...