[Biologic aging. 22. Oxygen and aging].

By means of the experimental-gerontological literature the question of causality between oxygen and ageing and the age-associated alterations, influencing oxygen utilisation, were discussed. Under normal conditions there are no significant decreases of high-energy compounds in the most organs, although under a strain of organism it is possible to show a reduction of adaptation and regulation on different levels. Oxygen deficiency as a primary cause of ageing could not be showed experimentally. On the other hand the classification of free radicals (= the products of oxygen activation) as primary factors of ageing are more conceivable. The estimation of causal relations is difficult because of the interlocking of physiological and pathological processes of ageing.