Advanced Glycosylated end-products is a mouthful. It’s a lot easier to remember the initials: AGE. Those initials are especially fitting since these compounds accelerate aging.
Under certain conditions, glucose combines abnormally with proteins. The result is called an advanced glycosylated end-product. These compounds are very reactive, so they then go on to combine with other proteins. That’s when the damage starts.
AGE compounds have been extensively studied in diabetic patients because researchers suspect they initiate the major complications of diabetes — blindness and kidney failure (diabetes is a leading cause of both). AGEs appear to bind to the membranes of the cells lining blood vessels, interfering with their normal functions. [ Keep Reading ]
