Denham Harman 3997371 215526387 2008-05-28T16:19:48Z DOI bot 6652755 Citation maintenance. You can [[WP:DOI|use this bot]] yourself! Please [[User:DOI_bot/bugs|report any bugs]]. '''Denham Harman''' ([[February 14]], [[1916]] - ), MD, PhD, FACP, FAAA [[Gerontology#Biogerontology|biogerontologist]] is Professor [[emeritus]] at the [[University of Nebraska Medical Center]]. Dr. Harman is widely known as the "[[Father#Philosophical_fatherhood|father]] of the [[free radical theory]] of [[aging]]". In 1995 he was nominated for the [[Nobel Prize]] in [[medicine]]. ==Background== Denham Harman earned his BS and Ph.D. in 1943 from the College of Chemistry at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and his M.D. from [[Stanford University]], finishing his internship in 1954. Immediately after earning his Ph.D., in 1943, Dr.&nbsp;Harman joined the [[Chemical kinetics|reaction kinetics]] department of [[Shell Oil]] in Emeryville, [[California]]. He worked for six years as a Shell research [[chemist]], in part studying [[radical (chemistry)|free radical reactions]] in petroleum products. During that period he was granted 35 [[patent]]s, one for a compound used in plastic strips to catch [[fly|flies]] ("Shell No Pest Strip"). Dr. Harman became fascinated with the phenomenon of [[ageing|aging]], its cause and possible cure. To assist him in understanding this problem he went to medical school at Stanford University. Harman became [[Chair (official)|chair]] of [[Cardiovascular_disease#Research|cardiovascular research]] at the [[University of Nebraska Medical Center|University of Nebraska College of Medicine]] in 1958. Dr. Harman has been married to the same woman for most of his life, a [[journalism]] student who he met at a [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] dance while at the University of California. The couple has four children and four grandchildren. Dr. Harman maintained a healthy [[lifestyle]] throughout his life. He has never [[Tobacco smoking|smoked]] and [[Alcoholic beverage|drinks alcohol]] in moderation. He ran two miles a day until he was 82. He quit because of a back injury, but he continued to take regular walks to help him maintain a weight of 140 pounds on his 5-foot-10 frame. ==Development of the Free Radical Theory of Aging== In 1954, between his [[medical intern|internship]] and [[Residency (medicine)|residency]] in [[internal medicine]], Dr. Harman became a research associate at the Donner Laboratory of [[Medical Physics]] at [[University of California|UC Berkeley]], where he was able to pursue the puzzle of the [[senescence|cause of aging]]. After four months of frustration he hit upon the idea of [[radical (chemistry)|free radicals]] as cause of the damage to macromolecules known as "[[ageing|aging]]". Although other scientists were reluctant to accept his theory he was finally able to get it published in what is now a much-cited article in the Journal of Gerontology<ref>{{cite journal | author=Harman, D | title=Aging: a theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry | journal=JOURNAL OF GERONTOLOGY | volume=11 | issue=3 | year=1956 | pages=298–300 | pmid=13332224 }}</ref>. Dr. Harman attempted to detect free radicals in association with the [[enzyme]] [[catalase]], but without success. He attempted to do [[Life span|lifespan]] studies with short-lived strains of [[mouse|mice]] subject to [[radiation]] and given the radiation protection compound 2-MEA ([[Cysteamine|2-mercaptoethylamine]]), and was able to show a 30% increase in [[Life expectancy|average life expectancy]]. He was able to show extension of life expectancy with a number of [[antioxidant]]s. In 1961, Dr. Harman published a study showing that the degree of [[polyunsaturated|polyunsaturation]] in fats had a dramatic effect on [[cancer]] rates in mice. The most highly [[Unsaturated fat|polyunsaturated dietary fats]] were found to be the most [[Carcinogen|carcinogenic]]. In 1968 Dr. Harman published a dietary antioxidant study showing that the food preservative [[BHT]] fed over a lifetime to mice produced a 45% increase in life span. Dr.&nbsp;Harman became concerned that although many of his studies showed an increase in [[Life expectancy|average lifespan]] by antioxidants, none showed an increase in [[Maximum life span|maximum lifespan]]. After years of frustration over his inability to increase maximum lifespan with antioxidant supplements, Dr.&nbsp;Harman came to the conclusion that [[mitochondria]] were producing as well as being damaged by free radicals, but that [[exogenous]] antioxidants don't enter the mitochondria. And that it is mitochondria that determine lifespan. He published his ideas on what he called the "Mitochondrial Theory of Aging" in the April 1972 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society<ref>{{cite journal | author=Harman, D | title=A biologic clock: the mitochondria? | journal=JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY | volume=20 | issue=4 | year=1972 | pages=145–147 | pmid=5016631 }}</ref>. ==Organizational Accomplishments== In 1969 Dr. Harman became concerned that few of those involved in [[gerontology]] were studying the [[biology|biological]] aspects of [[ageing|aging]], and fewer still had a serious interest in discovering the cause of aging. In 1970 he became a founder of the [[American Aging Association]] (AGE) to create a society of scientists focused on aging research and advocacy of aging research. In 1985 he became a founder of the <!--Keep the following red link! Turn it blue by creating an article for it-->[[International Association of Biomedical Gerontology]] (IABG). == See also == * [[American Aging Association]] * [[Free-radical theory]] * [[Life extension]] * [[Senescence]] ==References== <references/> *{{cite journal | author=Harman D, Harman H | title="I thought, thought, thought for four months in vain and suddenly the idea came"--an interview with Denham and Helen Harman. Interview by K. Kitani and G.O. Ivy | journal=BIOGERONTOLOGY | volume=4 | issue=6 | year=2003 | pages=401–412 | pmid=14739712 }} ==External links== *[http://www.iabg2005.dk/htdocs/2005/iabg.htm About IABG (International Association of Biomedical Gerontology)] *[http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag98/jan-interview98.html Interview with Denham Harman] [[Category:1916 births|Harman, Denham]] [[Category:Academics|Harman, Denham|Gerontology]] [[Category:Biogerontologists|Harman, Denham]] [[Category:Founders by field|Harman, Denham]] [[Category:Life extensionists|Harman, Denham]] [[Category:Living people|Harman, Denham]] [[Category:Medical academics|Harman, Denham]] [[fr:Denham Harman]] [[fi:Denham Harman]]