The main cause of cell death is the loss of control of intracellular calcium.
Calcium serves as the main vehicle of information transfer between cells.
The body's inability to regulate this flow creates problems within most of its major organs and biological systems. Nerve and muscle cells are especially sensitive to alterations in calcium levels. The cell maintains a lower concentration of internal calcium than outside the cell with this system. A surface protein attracts an external sodium molecule and an internal calcium molecule. They are then reversed, and the calcium is forced out of the cell.