Causes of Apoptosis and Necrosis Cell Death

Cell death is completely normal and it goes on all the time in your body. In fact, death of cells is essential for healthy development and homeostasis. However, not all cell death is beneficial.

Beneficial cell death is one that is carried out in a controlled manner. Whenever a single cell malfunctions or becomes diseased, then apoptosis occurs. This is a highly regulated breakdown of that cell coupled with the production of a new one. Thus, maintaining a relatively constant process of life and death.

Some causes for apoptosis to occur include:

  • cells infected with a virus
  • cells impaired beyond repair
  • cells in a stressful state ~ starvation
  • cell DNA damaged by oxidants or other agents

Apoptosis is an organized way of removing a non-functioning cell so that it no longer drains nutrients nor spreads infection.

On the other hand, necrosis means death of a group cells in the same area caused by the lack of blood. Necrosis caused demise is ungoverned and irreversible.

There are various categories of necrosis, named for their location or type of tissue destroyed, for instance:

Causes of cellular necrosis can be attributable to a number of health conditions or outside instigators, like:

Making a simple comparison between apoptosis to necrosis, some differences are:

  1. apoptosis is not fatal, necrosis can be
  2. apoptosis is controlled cell death, necrosis is not
  3. necrosis typically causes inflammation, whereas apoptosis does not
  4. apoptosis often provides a beneficial effect, necrosis is usually detrimental
  5. necrosis causes death to a group of cells in an area, while apoptosis is cessation of an individual cell

Once necrosis causes a substantial number of cells to die the consequential health condition is known as gangrene.

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