Oxidative Stress

A disturbance in the prooxidant-antioxidant balance in favor of the former, leading to potential damage. Often arises due to an excess of free radical generation in cells, which outstrips the capacity of the antioxidant defences to detoxify.

Sies (1991). http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01645140#page-1