Q: My father is 83 years old. He is having difficulty in walking for the past 3 months. He shuffles his feet and freezes without movement for sometime before taking the next step. He eats normally, does not have hypertension, his sugar levels are also normal. They had escalated slightly a month ago for the first time in his life, but came down with diet control. He has no pain in the joints or any abnormal swellings. His condition seemed to improve with some leg exercises and he was able to move without assistance for 2 weeks. But now he is back to square one. His physician says that this is due to old age and cannot be cured. We are giving him homeopathic medicines, which claim to strengthen the nervous system. What sort of treatment should be attempted?

A:People age at different rates and therefore age alone is not the only determinant of function. Beyond the age of 80 one must anticipate progressive deterioration, and money can be wasted to try and arrest the normal decline. However an active life style with appropriate adjustments to minimize problems such as falls is essential. It is unlikely that any specific ant-ageing medicine, herb or other remedy will help in the absence of a correctable cause such as hypertension.