Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: Sniff Test For Alzheimer’s May Tell If Person Has One

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Sniff Test For Alzheimer’s May Tell If Person Has One

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This sniff test for Alzheimer’s, according to scientists, may soon become a landmark innovation for diagnosing patients using their sense of smell, as Alzheimer’s disease has been found to affect their ability to identify familiar aroma like coffee, raspberry and smoke.

Sniff test for Alzheimers testing underway

This breakthrough discovery was presented based on studies during the last conference held last week for an international Alzheimer’s conference. The tests involved people in their 60’s who were asked to take a standard odour detection test.

“The whole idea is to create tests that a general clinician can use in an office setting,” says Dr. William Kreisl, a neurologist at Columbia University, where both studies were done.

Traditional tests are really expensive

For those spending lots of hours standing in line to wait for their turn to see the doctor, this innovative sniff test will soon make it easy for everyone.

Scientists since decades back provided data regarding ongoing testing for the disease and found that a person’s olfactory system is somewhat affected.

The study involved some 84 participants in their 60’s and 70’s, along with some 58 other people who are suffering from memory concerns. The results showed that people who had difficulty identifying odours were three times more likely to have memory problems.

Another study was conducted by the same research team four years after the initial study and they gathered some 397 people whose average age was 80 at the start of the test. The results of the tests became a good predictor of who are those likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Not accurate

Although the scientists agree that the tests were not perfect, especially due to one factor that Alzheimer’s is a degenerative disease and would apparently have impacts on a person’s senses and their cognitive abilities.

The scientists, however, are hopeful that their study would pave the way for better methods that could help screen for Alzheimer’s early on and be able to develop this method more for the benefit of everyone.

Alzheimer’s is primarily caused by proteins building up in the brain that forms neural structures called “plaques” or “tangles”, that as time passes disconnects nerve cells and eventual loss of brain tissues.

Data from the Alzheimer’s Association, show that more than 5 million Americans are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and is the 6^th leading cause of deaths in the United States.

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