Loss of smell may precede cognition problems in Alzheimer’s patients: study
Reduced smell detection started from age 65, and could be an early predictor of the disease, say the US researchers.
Those who carry a gene associated with Alzheimer’s disease may lose their sense of smell long before memory and thinking problems occur, a study suggests.
This early sign of potential dementia is not seen in people who do not carry this gene, called APOE e4, researchers report in the journal Neurology.
“Testing a person’s ability to detect odours may be a useful way to predict future problems with cognition,” said researcher Dr Matthew GoodSmith, a resident at the University of Chicago.
For the study, the researchers surveyed more than 865 people about their ability to detect an odour and identify what they were smelling.
