Second Law of Thermodynamics Formalism Applied to Finite Duration through Cycles of Living Dissipative Systems

Abstract

A simple and general theory to describe basic irreversible thermodynamic aspects of aging in all dissipative living is presented. Any dissipative system during its operation continuously loses efficiency by the production of structural or functional defects because of the second law of thermodynamics. This continuous loss of efficiency occurs on all the dissipative systems through the realization of specific functional cycles, leading to a maximum action principle of any system involving the Planck's constant during their total dissipative operation. We applied our theory to the calculation of men and women lifespans from basal metabolic rate per unit weight and to the calculation of a new aging parameter per cycle of some human organs or physiological functions. All microscopic theory of the aging of living beings should be consistent with the second law of the thermodynamics. In other words, the operation of the biological self-organized structures only implies a delay in which the dissipative biological systems outside of equilibrium approach inexorably to the thermodynamic equilibrium obeying the second law of the thermodynamics.

General thermodynamic efficiency loss, aging and Gompertz mortality law

“…With Tito Lucrecio Caro, the first prescientific document written without mention myths or fantasies about human or animal aging appears [11], and with Lavoisier, the path of scientific research on the aging of both, humans and animals, begins [12]. Nowadays many theories address the issue of aging, see [1,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. The possible applications of the existing theories are multiple, the references [27][28][29][30][31] give an idea of the breath of the fields where they can be used to solve specific problems.…”

“…The possible applications of the existing theories are multiple, the references [27][28][29][30][31] give an idea of the breath of the fields where they can be used to solve specific problems. Many theoretical works of irreversible thermodynamics about the aging of living beings have been developed [1,13,15,18,[22][23][24][25][26].…”

“…Recently, one of them [1] has been used to explain why, on average, women live longer than men. The percentage discrepancy between the experimental value for the population of Europe and the numerical calculation was 2.5%.…”

“…In the theoretical framework published in the Montemayor-Aldrete et al [1] theory we will address two problems: First, the existing relationship between the aging rate of living organisms and the death rate in a population as a function of age will be established. Second, an extension of our irreversible aging theory of self-organized dissipative systems will be developed for the case of living organisms of variable body temperatures.…”

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A simple and general thermodynamic theory is applied to describe the irreversible aspects of the continuous process of functional efficiency loss, which occurs in dissipative biological structures after they reach maturity [1]. This theory, among other things, follows Prigogine [2] by considering that these dissipative structures perform their functions and carry out cyclical processes per se since they are self-organizing away from equilibrium.

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