A common phenomenon is that when one half of a couple that has been together for a long time dies, the other half also dies soon after.
The usual, romantic explanation is that they loved each other so much they couldn’t live without each other.
He or she died of a ‘broken heart’, ‘couldn’t live alone’, ‘depended on spouse’.
Is there a correlation between the death of one spouse and the subsequent death of the other soon after?
The hypothesis is that the will to live may have some effect on the immune system. The brain that is in control of our body may have a shutdown mechanism, which is activated in certain cases. Those cases are similar to fatal accidents or certain diseases, where the brain knows that it will not be able to cope with them. This mechanism can control the ‘suicide cells’.
In recent years, suicide cells or what scientists define as programmed cell death (PCD) have formed the basis of ongoing biogenetic research. PCD is the death of a cell that is mediated by an intracellular program.
There are three main types of PCD. Type I cell death is called apoptosis. Type II is autophagic and type III is necrotic cell death.
Cells can be killed by noxious agents or instructed to kill themselves. If there is a threat to the integrity of an organism from certain cells, PCD is needed to destroy those cells.
Typical examples of such cases are: virus-infected cells, DNA damage, immune system cells, and cancer cells.
In certain types of cancer cells, apoptosis is triggered by radiation or chemicals used for therapy.
What makes a cell decide to commit suicide?
The author believes that it is the imbalance between the positive and negative signals sent by the brain.
If the positive signals (no desire to live) necessary for survival are missing and/or negative signals are sent meaning ‘no desire to live’, the shutdown mechanism may be activated.
There have been numerous case reports where patients miraculously recovered after being clearly diagnosed with cancer. This phenomenon can be explained by the activation of the PCD mechanism by positive signals of ‘will to live’.
In some cases, cancer-associated viruses can use tricks, such as producing a protein that turns off the apoptosis signal. In such cases, the cancer cells will not only continue to live and proliferate, but will also become more resistant to apoptosis. Further understanding of those tricks and decoy molecules generated to protect cancer cells would allow researchers to reactivate and overcome those protective tricks to destroy dangerous cancer cells.
The author also believes that future research on cancer cell destruction and elimination could be implemented in two phases. The first phase would be to distinguish, mark and identify the cancer cells. In phase two, the objective would be to activate suicide cells in the selected area or group of cells and circumvent the existing protection of cancer cells.
Strong psychological and family support is essential for such a recovery. In addition, the patient must believe in and hope for a healthy and bright future.