Antioxidants & redox signaling
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Antioxid. Redox Signal. · Aug 2010
ReviewWomen live longer than men: understanding molecular mechanisms offers opportunities to intervene by using estrogenic compounds.
Women live longer than men. Moreover, females live longer than males in some, but not all, experimental animals. The differences in longevity between genders are related to free radical production. ⋯ These considerations have led us to postulate an extended concept of antioxidant in biology: an antioxidant is any nutritional, physiological, or pharmacological manipulation that increases the expression and activity of antioxidant genes or proteins. Phytoestrogens or other selective estrogen receptor modulators lower age-related diseases and prolong life span, at least in experimental animals. This provides rational bases to study their action in humans further.