Sniffing out Alzheimer’s?
I have always had a keen sense of smell.
I grew up on the New England coast, where I learned to appreciate the smell of the salty spray of the Long Island Sound on a cool, misty day.
In the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., there are few greater joys than walking in an evergreen forest immediately after rain takes its leave.
Bacon.
Coffee.
Chocolate.
A Parisian bakery in the early morning.
Count me in.
But did you know our sense of smell is an early warning system for neurological changes?
Enter a simple “peel and sniff” gadget to leverage olfaction to screen for cognitive disorders.
Smell As A Cognitive Health Indicator – Sniffing out Alzheimer’s
Often dismissed, a decline in our sense of smell can be more than just a nasal issue; scientists increasingly recognize it as an indicator of subtle shifts in cognitive health.
This fundamental sense appears closely tied to brain function, and difficulties detecting or identifying odors can reflect underlying changes we might otherwise miss.
This connection is particularly significant regarding neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
Measurable olfactory decline can manifest years before noticeable memory problems emerge, offering smell as a potential early warning system for conditions such as cognitive decline.
Because of this finding, there’s growing enthusiasm for developing simple, non-invasive smell tests.
Such screenings could represent a practical tool for identifying high-risk individuals earlier, potentially opening crucial windows for future interventions and support.
Cognitive Assessment — Using Smell
One specific example of such an assessment is the AROMHA Brain Health Test (ABHT).
It works quite simply: individuals sniff different scented labels presented on a card.
Through this process, the test gauges their ability to distinguish between smells, correctly identify what they are smelling, and remember scents they’ve encountered previously.
Underscoring the link between smell and cognition, researchers discovered this:
Adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) performed less well on the test than those with typical cognitive function.
My Take – Sniffing out Alzheimer’s?
The AROMHA researchers plan future investigations incorporating smell assessment with standard neuropsychological testing.
By testing participants over time, they hope to determine if this test has predictive power—specifically, whether lower scores can indicate a higher likelihood of future cognitive decline.
One implication of having a brief olfactory test with a simple memory exam is that we could effectively screen for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
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