Richards, Guy, Antony2018-06-042018-06-041991-05-21https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24576A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyThis thesis describes and discusses oxidants and anti-oxidants and their relation to human disease. Cigarette smoking is used as the model for the study of chronic inflammatory processes, firstly, to establish a causative link between oxidants and disease viz. lung function abnormalities in smokers, secondly to evaluate the interaction between hyperactive phagocytes and anti-oxidant defences and thirdly, to investigate the possibility that intervention with anti-oxidants may ameliorate the effects of chronic inflammation.enRespiratory Physiological PhenomenaNeutrophilsAntioxidantsThesis