A Simple Smell Test Could โฃOffer Early Warning forโ Alzheimer’s
Difficulty recognizing familiar smells,like the scent of soap during a shower,may be an โearly indicator of cognitive decline,potentially years beforeโค noticeable symptoms appear. โThis is โaccording to research led by Dr. Davangere Devanand, chair of psychiatry and neurology at Columbia University in New york. The issue isn’t simply a loss of smell,but a deficit in the brain areas responsible for memory and associating sensations with โmemories – a precursor to the cognitive problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other โforms of dementia,often initially mistaken forโค fatigue โขor stress.
Dr. Devanand’s study, published in Alzheimer’sโฃ & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, utilized a brief olfactory test โto assess 647โ volunteers without diagnosed dementia, participants in the ongoing Mayo Clinic Study of aging.โฃ Participants were followed for an average of 8.1 years.
The Brief Smell โIdentification Test (BSIT) presents twelve common scents – โincluding soap, leather, lilac, smoke, gas, rose, cherry, โcloves, strawberry, โคmenthol, pineapple, and lemon – โฃand asks participants to identify eachโ from aโฃ multiple-choice selection of four options.
The resulting score, ranging from 0 to โ12 (adjusted โขdownwards for incorrect answers), indicates the health of olfactory โคfunction. A score of 9 orโ higher โsuggests an โintact sense of smell.Scores โbetween 8 and 3 โฃindicate โคimpairment, while a score โคbelow 3 signifiesโ anosmia (loss of smell).
Researchers then correlated BSIT results with cognitive assessments, such as theโ Blessed Data Memory Concentration Test, and data โfrom advanced imaging techniques like PET amyloid scans and magnetic resonance โฃimaging. This cross-referencingโ validated the accuracy ofโค the BSIT.
The test proved remarkably predictive, successfullyโข identifying 102 cases of future cognitive decline andโ 34 cases of dementia. “Using โa simple smellโข test can predict cognitive decline,” explains Dr.Devanand, โhighlighting the potential for this accessible and affordable method to provide early detection of cognitiveโฃ impairment. โขThe BSIT offers a less invasive and โmore economical alternativeโข to more complex and costly diagnostic procedures, like blood โtests, cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and brain imaging, for initialโ screening and risk assessment.
