Are antioxidant supplements really protective?

They may be, but it depends on whose theory you follow. Antioxidants are supposed to 'mop up and destroy' free radicals - chemicals thought to be part of the cause of cancers and ageing. So the simplistic argument is that they should be beneficial, and the more the better. Not so, according to recent opinion in the journal of the National Cancer Institute. Two renowned cancer experts wrote that if antioxidant supplements decrease free radicals, they may interfere with essential defensive mechanisms for ridding us of damaged cells, including those that are pre-cancerous and cancerous. So they may well cause harm. I don't want to take sides, but I wouldn't dream of taking them myself.

What's the point of our tonsils and appendix? They seem to give us nothing but grief.

They are both part of our lymphatic system defences. When they meet germs, which is obviously common in the throat and the bowel, they snap into action, producing masses of lymphocytes (white cells) that fight the infection. Most of the time they win the battle, and we don't notice they are there. Occasionally they don't and we get tonsillitis or appendicitis. We were taught that the first appendix to be removed in Britain was from King Edward VII just before his planned coronation. The ceremony was postponed because of it. I'm not certain that he was really the first, so I'd like to hear from any medical historian who is.

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