• Question: What do the 'free radicals' do at low altitude? And why?

    Asked by 12ceharland to Damian on 17 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Damian Bailey

      Damian Bailey answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      OK, these are super-tiny super-reactive molecules that whizz around the circulation and can damage your cells (ouch!). But only when there’s too many of them. In the right amounts, they help us stay alive by making the cells work properly and switching on genes (they’re almost like a light switch!). So basically free radicals can be good, bad and just plain ugly! Measuring them isn’t easy and we’re only just starting to understand exactly what they do. Did you know that your brain is churning out free radicals right now!

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