Hearing loss caused by free radicals?

Although health news in the media and the press are predominantly medically-oriented, I occasionally run across an article of interest from a natural health perspective.

So an article in the August 22, 2015, Wall Street Journal about a drug trial to reduce hearing loss caught my attention. According to the article, “researchers believe excessive noise causes the body to produce large numbers of highly reactive molecules (free radicals) that can harm tissues such as the hair cells of the inner ear.” The proposed drug is an antioxidant (d-methionine).

Of course, antioxidants neutralize free radicals, so if free radicals are a cause of hearing loss, then an antioxidant should be effective.

But why do we need a drug with all its side-effects? There are many natural antioxidants already available on the market, and they have no side effects!

Do free radicals cause hearing loss? This is the first I’ve heard that proposed, but it certainly is plausible. Free radicals are believed to be a major cause of aging, and hearing loss is typically associated with aging. So there’s one more reason to take an effective antioxidant.

I take several antioxidants, but I consider the best to be Microhydrin Plus™ from RBC Life. 

Free radicals are created constantly within the body. And free radicals are highly reactive, looking for a site to capture an electron from another molecule. So when a free radical is created the most effective protection is to have an antioxidant nearby to provide that electron.

The antioxidant should be both water soluble and fat soluble. And the antioxidant should not become a free radical itself when it gives up an electron. Microhydrin Plus™ meets those specs. I take it at least twice a day to be sure it is available when a free radical appears.

Disease or Disorder? The difference is important!

What is the difference between “disease” and “disorder”? 

Some people say they are used interchangeably. But if there is no difference, why have two terms?

To me, a disorder is a condition in which the body does not function the way it was designed to function. A disease is the state in which the body is suffering from the effects of an invading organism—a virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite, etc. The distinction between these two terms has become blurred.

The body is designed to heal itself. If the body is not healing itself, the way it was designed to work, that is a “disorder”. Probably the two most common disorders are immune system disorders and genetic disorders.

Immune system disorders 

If the immune system is malfunctioning, the body may experience any or all of the following possible results:

• The immune system will attack healthy tissue (over-active immune system leading to auto-immune disorders),
• The immune system will over-react to benign particles (over-active immune system leading to allergies and sensitivities),
• The immune system will not destroy an invading organism (under-active immune system leading to frequent and prolonged diseases),  
• The immune system will not identify and destroy cancer cells (under-active immune system leading to cancer).

Auto-immune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, lupus, asthma, are the most common. Auto-immune disorders fall into the category of over-active immune systems.   

What to do about an immune system disorder? 

The medical community has a drug for any and all of these conditions.

A drug may help the body fight an invading organism. That is certainly an appropriate application for a drug.

But the cause of an immune system disorder is not a missing drug. A drug may relieve pain and discomfort, but it does not address the cause of the disorder.

The mostly likely cause of an immune system disorder is a deficiency of one or more nutrients that leads to the malfunctioning of the immune system. One of the most common missing nutrients is polysaccharides, which are critical to having a properly-functioning immune system.

Personally, I believe that many of our nation’s immune disorders could be resolved with proper nutrition, consequently resulting in a check on the nation’s sky-rocketing medical costs.