What is the Origin of Age-Related Systemic Entropy?

The concept borrows from the thermodynamic principle of entropy, which describes the tendency toward disorder, applying it to the intricate, energy-dependent biological organization of a living system over time. This framework is often used in biogerontology to describe the multifaceted nature of physiological decline.

What is the Mechanism of Age-Related Systemic Entropy?

Mechanistically, this entropy manifests through cumulative cellular damage, including telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired cellular signaling pathways, particularly within the neuroendocrine axes. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes exhibit dysregulation, leading to blunted hormonal responses and a failure to adequately restore homeostatic balance after stressors. This systemic breakdown accelerates the accumulation of molecular damage, reducing the organism's overall reserve capacity.

Age-Related Systemic Entropy

Meaning

The progressive, inevitable loss of organized complexity and functional efficiency across biological systems as an organism ages. This decline in systemic order increases vulnerability to pathology and compromises the body’s ability to maintain internal stability, which is central to the aging process.