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- Giving Up the Guns When a Family Member Has Alzheimer’s
- Care Management Program Is Reducing Need for Anti-anxiety Medication and Visits to the Hospital/Emergency Room
- Talking to a Loved One With Alzheimer’s
- 10 Powerful Ways to Commemorate Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
- Making the Most of Mealtimes for People With Alzheimer’s
- Family Members Provide 100 Hours a Month of Unpaid Care for Alzheimer’s
- Alzheimer’s Caregivers Should Be Screened for Depression
- Alzheimer’s Care Costs Far More Than Heart Disease or Cancer Care
- Obesity at Midlife May Speed Alzheimer’s Onset
- Hello from my mom
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- High Blood Pressure at Age 50 Tied to Dementia Later in Life
- High Fat, High Sugar Diet Tied to Alzheimer’s Brain Changes
- Kidney Dialysis Patients at High Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Daytime Sleepiness May Be Early Warning Sign of Alzheimer’s
- Alzheimer’s Disease Increases the Risk of Falls
- High Blood Sugar Tied to Memory Decline
- Blood Test for Alzheimer’s Gets Closer
- Worried About Your Memory? Alzheimer’s May Not Be to Blame
- Brain Changes of Menopause May Promote Alzheimer’s
- Predicting Who Will Get Alzheimer’s
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- Experimental Drug, Fails to Benefit Alzheimer’s Patients
- New Drug Shows Promise for Alzheimer’s
- Pain Relievers Present Special Hazards in People With Alzheimer’s Disease
- Care Management Program Is Reducing Need for Anti-anxiety Medication and Visits to the Hospital/Emergency Room
- Music May Ease the Anxiety of Alzheimer’s
- Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug, Intepirdine, Disappoints in Study
- An Eye Scan for Alzheimer’s?
- Drug to treat Alzheimer’s is Ranked Highest
- Patients Often Fail to Adhere to Alzheimer’s Drug Schedules
- Could Treatments for Diabetes Help Treat Alzheimer’s?
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- Healthier Heart, Healthier Brain
- 2 Hours a Week of Exercise Can Boost Brain Health
- ‘Exergames,’ Which Combine Exercise and Games, May Benefit Brain Health
- Eat Fish, Fruit, Vegetables and Nuts for Brain Health
- Beet Compound Shows Promise Against Alzheimer’s
- A Single Night of Not Sleeping Tied to Alzheimer’s Brain Changes
- Should Alzheimer’s Patients Drink Coffee?
- Can a Salad a Day Help Keep Memory Sharp?
- Fitness in Midlife Tied to Lower Dementia Risk in Old Age
- Doctor’s Orders: Exercise for the Sake of Your Brain
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- Alzheimer’s Rates Could Double in Coming Decades
- Combining Care Program With Medication Reduces Alzheimer’s Symptoms By 750%
- Fisher Center Scientists make two new Significant Discoveries in the battle against Alzheimer’s
- Dementia Rates Are Slowing, but Alzheimer’s Cases Continue to Rise
- Fisher Center Scientists Create a Novel Imaging Technology Allowing the 3D Visualization of Brain Defects That Cause Alzheimer’s Disease
- Negative Beliefs About Aging Could Prime the Brain for Alzheimer’s
- Recognizing Faces Is a Challenge for Those With Alzheimer’s
- Fisher Center Scientists Discover Pathway That may Lead to Alzheimer’s Disease
- Brain Scans Move Closer to Early Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
- Can Vitamin E Slow Alzheimer’s Decline?
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- Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Earns Gold Seal of Transparency from GuideStar
- The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Earns Coveted 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator for the 7th Consecutive Year
- Hear Kent Karosen, President and CEO of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, describe his new book and the power of art therapy
- Fisher Center Scientists link a Mutation That Protects Against the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Newly Inducted Into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Shaquille O’Neal, Joins the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation to Raise Funds for Groundbreaking Research in the Quest for a Cure
- Pat Summitt, legendary women’s basketball coach, dies at 64
- Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan for her Impact on the Fight to end Alzheimer’s
- WRNN Interview
- Fisher Center’s 20th Anniversary Celebration and recent activities
- Featured on NASDAQ’s Billboard
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Poor Scent Detection May Signal Early Alzheimer’s
July 5, 2007
An inability to detect common odors may be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers report. Healthy seniors who performed poorly on tests designed to measure detection of everyday smells, such as lemon or paint thinner, were more likely to develop problems with thinking, learning, and memory.
Some were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, a type of memory loss that sometimes progresses to Alzheimer’s disease. The study appeared in the Archives of General Psychiatry, a journal of the American Medical Association.
Scientists have previously linked poor scent detection to a more rapid decline in thinking and memory in people who have mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. Problems with the sense of smell have also been linked to the presence of so-called tau tangles, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, in parts of the brain linked to memory.
In the current study, researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago studied 589 seniors (average age around 80) who were mentally intact. Over the next five years, they were given regular exams to measure memory and thinking skills. They were also given a smell identification test, in which 12 familiar odors, such as banana, chocolate, cinnamon, gasoline, smoke, and turpentine, were placed under their nose. They then had to match the scent with one of four possible choices.
During the study, almost a third of the participants (177 individuals) developed mild cognitive impairment. The researchers found that the worse a person did on the odor identification test, the more likely they were to develop mild cognitive impairment. Men and women who scored below average (eight or fewer correct responses out of 12) on the odor identification test were 50 percent more likely to develop the condition than those who scored above average (11 correct answers). The link between a poor sense of smell and mental decline persisted even when investigators considered other conditions that could affect olfactory responses and cognition, including smoking or having a stroke. Poor odor identification was also associated with lower cognitive scores at the beginning of the study and with a more rapid decline in memory of past experiences, ability to recall words and symbols, and perceptual speed.
“Among older persons without manifest cognitive impairment, difficulty in identifying odors predicts subsequent development of mild cognitive impairment,” the authors conclude. “The findings suggest that olfactory dysfunction can be an early manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease … and that olfactory assessment may be useful for early disease identification.”
Problems with smell are common in old age. They may have many causes and have been linked to other ailments as well, including Parkinson’s disease. So having a problem with smell does not mean that Alzheimer’s is imminent. However, this study and previous studies like it highlight new clues in the early detection of Alzheimer’s, and may shed light on underlying defects in the brain and nervous system that lead to the disease.
The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation continues to fund critical research into the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease. As research findings continue to mount, the hope for a cure draws closer. To learn more, visit www.ALZinfo.org.
By www.ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source:
Robert S. Wilson; Julie A. Schneider; Steven E. Arnold; et al: “Olfactory Identification and Incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Age.” Archives of General Psychiatry, Volume 64, Number 7, July, 2007; pages 802-808.