XVIII World Congress of International Association of Gerontology, Rio-de-Janeiro Brazil, 2005
Gerontology 2005: ID-2716
Entropy Definition of Suffering
B.Z. Aminoff, MD, PhD
Geriatric D Department, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
Objective: A new definition of human suffering is presented by means of the entropy hypothesis that will help us to understand disease and the aging process.
Method: Evaluation of human suffering as a measure of the entropy level.
Results: Results of our study demonstrated that the high level of suffering endured by patients, which was evaluated by the (MSSE) scale, has a significant correlation with high mortality, advancing age, more sickness, malnutrition, the existence of decubitus ulcers and the use of drugs. It was also found that the suffering level of end-stage dementia (ESD) patients increased during the dying process until the last day of life. The established correlations may be explained by an enhanced level of body entropy. Entropy can be defined as a measure of chaos, a measure of the lack of order. Every loss, breakdown, deterioration of organization and lack of order implies an increase in the entropy level, and is therefore a source of suffering. Therefore, the aging process presents an increasing level of entropy, a process of the loss of reserves of the system until survival is no longer possible, and the human being passes away. Diseases are also naturally a mishap in the structure and organization of the body. All these are processes of a rise in the entropy level and are a source of suffering. Our hypothesis is that suffering and satisfaction are a function of the level of human entropy (Aminoff, 2001).
Conclusions: Human suffering may be defined as a complexity of negative sensations, perceptions, emotions or human thoughts that arise due to an increasing level of entropy of an individual’s organism and are affected by relationships with others, or germane surroundings in the past, present, or of future threats. In order to treat suffering, one should ensure that the level of entropy is lowered, by complementing that which is missing, disturbs, or has been lost.