Police sources said Jaya Shah, a divorcee, was living alone in an apartment at Shanti Ashram for almost 10 years. She usually stayed at home and did not have many friends except for an old woman who lived nearby.

Getting no response to the bell on Friday morning, her servant made enquiries with her neighbours. They said the door had not been opened since the servant left the previous morning.

Though the television could be heard through the locked door, several attempts at phoning her also drew blanks. The neighbours finally called for the police.

The police entered the house through the neighbour's balcony and found Shah lying on the floor. A doctor certified that she was dead. The untouched food on Shah's table suggested that she had probably died soon after the servant left the previous day, said sub-inspector, V B Dhole of the Borivali police station.

Shah had slipped somedays ago, badly injuring her leg and was being treated for it, added Dhole. Though no foul play is suspected and nothing is missing from the house, the body has been sent for post mortem examination, he said.Dr ME Yeolekar, professor and head of medicine, Sion Hospital, said the problems of old persons is a separate subject in itself and society is realising that there is an urgent need to tackle it. It is important that these problems should not be neglected by attributing them to `old age' and they should immediately be brought to the notice of a medical practitioner, Dr Yeolekar said.

Older people take longer to recover because their immunity is lower than those younger, he said. They also are less mobile and respond slowly to drugs. Doctors have to keep these points in mind while prescribing treatment, he said. Further, the old person should never be allowed to live alone as they need company, the doctor said.