Free radicals are to blame for Alzheimer's and Parkinson' s diseases

Logically speaking, anti-oxidants are substances that fight oxidants. Then what are oxidants? They are chemicals producing unstable form of oxygen, which make them deadly for some life forms and dangerous for the others. To name just two, chlorine and chloramines are oxidants and are used for disinfection – killing the microbes.

Now, antioxidants are chemicals (naturally occurring or synthesized) that absorb or scavenge and finally neutralize oxidants also known as free radicals. High levels of free radicals may eventually lead to damage of bodily cells and is believed are responsible for many diseases.

It is agreed upon that free radicals are to blame for diseases associated with long lasting oxidant stress: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, the most common forms of cancer, eye diseases, neurological diseases, infectious diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, drug induced lung lesions, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, asthma, emphysema, interstitial fibrosis, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson' s disease. (Stockholm, Swedish Council of Technology Assessment in Health Care)