Seely Andrew J E
Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada.
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, ON K1Y 4E9, Canada.
Entropy (Basel). 2020 Sep 29;22(10):1095. doi: 10.3390/e22101095.
Understanding how nature drives entropy production offers novel insights regarding patient care. Whilst energy is always preserved and energy gradients irreversibly dissipate (thus producing entropy), increasing evidence suggests that they do so in the most optimal means possible. For living complex non-equilibrium systems to create a healthy internal emergent order, they must continuously produce entropy over time. The Maximum Entropy Production Principle (MEPP) highlights nature's drive for non-equilibrium systems to augment their entropy production if possible. This physical drive is hypothesized to be responsible for the spontaneous formation of fractal structures in space (e.g., multi-scale self-similar tree-like vascular structures that optimize delivery to and clearance from an organ system) and time (e.g., complex heart and respiratory rate variability); both are ubiquitous and essential for physiology and health. Second, human entropy production, measured by heat production divided by temperature, is hypothesized to relate to both metabolism and consciousness, dissipating oxidative energy gradients and reducing information into meaning and memory, respectively. Third, both MEPP and natural selection are hypothesized to drive enhanced functioning and adaptability, selecting states with robust basilar entropy production, as well as the capacity to enhance entropy production in response to exercise, heat stress, and illness. Finally, a targeted focus on optimizing our patients' entropy production has the potential to improve health and clinical outcomes. With the implications of developing a novel understanding of health, illness, and treatment strategies, further exploration of this uncharted ground will offer value.
了解自然如何驱动熵产生为患者护理提供了新的见解。虽然能量总是守恒的,能量梯度会不可逆地消散(从而产生熵),但越来越多的证据表明,它们是以尽可能优化的方式这样做的。对于有生命的复杂非平衡系统来说,要创造一个健康的内部涌现秩序,它们必须随着时间的推移不断产生熵。最大熵产生原理(MEPP)强调了自然对非平衡系统的驱动,即尽可能增加它们的熵产生。据推测,这种物理驱动力导致了空间中(例如,优化器官系统输送和清除功能的多尺度自相似树状血管结构)和时间上(例如,复杂的心率和呼吸频率变异性)分形结构的自发形成;这两者在生理学和健康中无处不在且至关重要。其次,通过热量产生除以温度来衡量的人体熵产生,据推测分别与新陈代谢和意识有关,前者消散氧化能量梯度,后者将信息简化为意义和记忆。第三,据推测,MEPP和自然选择都推动功能增强和适应性提高,选择具有强大基础熵产生能力的状态,以及在运动、热应激和疾病状态下增强熵产生的能力。最后,有针对性地专注于优化我们患者的熵产生有可能改善健康状况和临床结果。随着对健康、疾病和治疗策略形成新认识的影响,对这片未知领域的进一步探索将具有价值。