What do all of the following conditions have in common: heart disease, cancer, hypertension, wrinkled skin, aging spots, arthritis, cataracts, and failing memory? These conditions are not associated with aging. In fact, even young people suffer from some of these ills. The one that ties all these conditions together, as well as most other degenerative disease, is free radicals.They are renegade molecular entities that cause destruction throughout the body. They are unstable molecules that have lost an electron, causing them to become highly reactive. In an effort to achieve balance, they steal electrons from adjacent molecules. In the process, these other molecules themselves become free radicals, which in turn attack nearby molecules stealing their electrons. A chain reaction occurs where hundreds and even thousands of molecules are affected.Once a molecule becomes a free radical, its physical and chemical properties change. The normal function of such molecules is permanently disrupted, affecting the entire cell of which they are apart. A living cell attacked by the free radicals degenerates and becomes dysfunctional. These highly reactive radicals can attack your cells, literally ripping their protective membranes apart. Sensitive cellular components like the nucleus and DNA, which carries the genetic blueprint of the cell, can be damaged, leading to cellular mutations and death.They have been identified as the primary cause or at least a contributing factor to some common health problems. Free radicals don’t necessarily cause all of these conditions, but they are involved at least as accomplices. It has been suggested that most of the damage caused by these health problems are actually the result of free-radical destruction and not from the disease itself.