Introduction

Abstract

Only two things are certain in life, one is that all of us will inevitably grow older, the other is that at some point during or at the end of this process we shall die. Inherent to the passage of time is a deterioration in the structural and functional integrity of our bodies, this progressing to such an extent that one or more organ systems will eventually begin to fail with the continued health and well-being of the individual coming under threat. Age-associated deficiencies in the musculo-skeletal, cardiovascular, or endocrine systems producing arthritis, hypertension, stroke or diabetes are all too apparent in our elderly population yet internally caused failures in the function of the nervous system provide the common, and mostly intractable, problems of memory and intellect or locomotion that face and frustrate clinicians.