Marion Lamb, an Oxford University Zoologist, has proposed the following model of aging: (1) Damage to the cells and its molecules (entropy), (2) the cell's inability to defend itself against that damage and to repair damage that occurs (homeostasis), (3) failure of your defenses as you age, (4) structural and enzymatic abnormalities, (5) cellular inefficiency, (6) progressive problems in the tissues, organs, and systems of your body, and (7) inability to cope with the environment. The unstated eighth phase of aging is, of course, death.

We're broken down by entropy. These are the forces of disorganization, decay, and dissolution. However, entropy isn't the same as aging or death. Entropy is the force that wears you down. Aging is the process that abandons you to entropy. Entropy works at all levels, from your genes to the gross anatomic level. At the molecular level, entropy breaks down molecules by means of isomerization, free radicals, cross-linked proteins, DNA damage, protein degradation, decreased turnover, and lipofuscin deposition.