James Watson: Type 2 Diabetes Caused By Lack Of Biological Oxidants, Not Excess

Friday, February 28, 2014 - 11:01 in Health & Medicine

Nobel laureate James D. Watson, the co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA, has published a hypothesis on the causation of type 2 diabetes - that diabetes, dementias, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers are linked to a failure to generate sufficient biological oxidants, called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Watson does not question that pancreatic tissue in people with type 2 diabetes is indeed inflamed. But he does present a novel theory of why. "The fundamental cause, I suggest, is a lack of biological oxidants, not an excess. The prevalent view of type 2 diabetes is that an excess of intracellular oxidation causes inflammation, which in turn kills cells in pancreatic tissue." read more

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