Antioxidants May Hold The Key To Diabetic Complications

Over the years, oxidative stress has been implicated with causing many of the complications of diabetes.  Although diabetes and increased blood sugars are the true cause, oxygen free radicals are usually the mechanism for causing the damage to blood vessels, nerves and cells.  Some studies even implicate oxidative stress for heart disease.

Oxidative Stress:  As the cells go through the normal oxygen cycle, active oxygen species are produced that are usually reduced by the enzymes of the body.  If the reactive oxygen species are produced in higher amounts than the body can reduce, we get free radicals.  These free radicals react with tissues and produce the stress that causes tissue to malfunction.  This malfunctioning is called oxidative stress.

Antioxidants have long been utilized to reduce the free radicals and improve oxidative stress.  A new study states that Vitamin C may improve complications of diabetes, consistent with the antioxidant benefits.  Although this study was run using vitamin C at a dosage injected into the blood stream, it shows that antioxidants may be a valuable option to reduce complications of diabetes.  More is to come......