Dr. Lester Packer is a cell biologist on the faculty of the
University of California at Berkeley, where he is a professor in the
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and head of the Packer
Laboratory. Now in his 70's, he has researched antioxidants for
nearly 50 years, during which time he published numerous
professional articles and books. Recently his first book for the
non-scientist appeared. Titled "The Antioxidant Miracle," the book
addresses the use of antioxidants against disease and aging.
I was put off by the word "Miracle", but because Dr. Packer's
credentials are certainly impressive and titles are often forced upon
authors by editors, I decided to read it and write a review for the
list. While "The Antioxidant Miracle" contains only a few explicit
references to Parkinson's disease, there is much in it that is
relevant. Antioxidants counteract the effects of oxidation by free
radicals. Whatever the causes of PD may be, postmortem examinations
of the brains of people with PD have found widespread oxidative
damage. Such damage, it is believed, can be retarded by the use of
antioxidants. In fact, one of the antioxidants discussed by Dr.
Packer, coenzyme Q10, is now undergoing clinical trials for use
against PD.
Which particular antioxidants will turn out to be effective against
PD and in what doses and combinations is still to be researched.
However, it appears that at least one guideline can already be
inferred from Dr. Packer's research -- that a combination of
antioxidants and supporting substances will be more effective than
any one used alone.
Five antioxidants have been identified which work together in a
special way, and which, for that reason, Dr. Packer has designated as
"network" antioxidants. These are vitamins C and E, lipoic acid,
glutathione, and coenzyme Q10. After deactivating a free radical, an
antioxidant itself becomes a weak free radical. What distinguishes
the network antioxidants is that after one of them has become a weak
free radical it can be restored to its antioxidant state
("recycled") by one or more of the other network antioxidants.
Lipoic acid, a.k.a. alpha-lipoic acid and thioctic acid, regarded by
Dr. Packer as the most vesatile of the network antioxidants, may be
unfamiliar to many readers. Lipoic acid is soluble in both water and
fat, crosses the brain-blood barrer, and is the only network
antioxidant that is able to recycle any of the network antioxidants,
including itself.
Additional antioxidants and supporting substances described in the
book include the flavonoids ginkgo biloba and pycnogenol; the
carotenoids alpha carotene, beta carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein,
lycopene and zeaxanthin; and selenium.
Dr. Packer identifies the food sources of all these antioxidants and
supportive substances, and he recommends a "cocktail" of them as a
supplement. He includes special recommendations for smokers,
diabetics, athletes, menopausal women, and people at risk for cancer
and cardiovascular disease. Note that glutathione, which is
synthesized by the body from its components, is not recommended as a
supplement, because it is either broken down by digestion or else not
absorbed well through the intestines.
I found it to be a significant omission that there was no discussion
of varying dosage requirements depending on age, considering that
oxidative damage increases with age and that one of the uses of
antioxidants is to delay such damage.
Dr. Packer practices what he preaches -- he apparently takes the
supplements that he recommends. Also, and here one may have
reservations or wonder about a possible conflict of interest between
scientific objectivity and market rewards, he has gone commercial.
The book gives a toll-free number and a web site via which Dr.
Packer's "cocktail" can be purchased. The web site,
http://www.networkantioxidants.com, contains some of the information
that is given in the book, including an excerpt and the "cocktail"
formula.
Phil Tompkins
Hoboken NJ
age 61/dx 1990
