Altered sense of smell could indicate Alzheimer's disease, new test

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 14 Dec 2004 - 14:00 PDT


A new test has found that people who find it hard to identify the smell of strawberry, smoke, soap, menthol, clove, pineapple, natural gas, lilac, lemon and leather might be at the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. The test was devised by Dr Davangere Devanand (New York's Columbia University) and his team.

Dr. Devanand said it is crucial to be able to diagnose Alzheimer's disease early on so that the patient can have the best treatment and drugs. Early diagnosis allows patients and families to organise their lives in a more effective way. Alzheimer's is incurable and fatal.

During Alzheimer's Disease the patient begins experiencing mild memory loss. The brain gradually becomes damaged (progressively). The patient, over time, becomes more and more confused until he/she has to be looked after round-the-clock.

Currently, all that drugs and treatments can do is slow down the progression of the disease.

It is very hard for medical professionals to identify Alzheimer's in a patient during the very initial stages of the disease.

In this study, there were 150 people with mild to minimal cognitive impairment plus 63 healthy individuals. Both groups were monitored at six month intervals. All of them were elderly.

Those who were not able to identify 10 odors mostly went on to become victims of Alzheimer's Disease.

Dr. Devanand said that the odor test will help medical professionals diagnose early Alzheimer's. He said the nerve pathways (in the brain) involved in smell are affected early on.

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