Oxidative Stress as a Convergent Mechanism in Chronic Disease: From Bench Biomarkers to Bedside Relevance

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) occupy an uncomfortable position in physiology: essential in modest amounts for signaling and host defense, yet corrosive when their production outpaces the antioxidant systems that keep them in check. This imbalance, formally termed oxidative stress, has moved well beyond its origins as a biochemical curiosity. Across nearly every organ system, from liver to kidney, lung, brain, and bladder, a growing body of evidence converges on the same conclusion: chronic disease and chronic oxidative imbalance travel together, and disentangling cause from consequence remains one of the more consequential open questions in translational medicine.