Poor sense of smell predicts early death

A simple scratch-and-sniff test can detect a poor sense of smell in older adults and predict the likelihood of dying within the next 10 years, but the reasons for this are not entirely clear


Participants: Researchers analysed data from 2,289 adults, aged from 71-82. About half of
participants were women, and about four in 10 participants were African Americans

Scratch-and-sniff test: Assessed ability to identify 12 common odours, such as banana, garlic,
cherry or motor oil. Scores indicated good, moderate, or poor sense of smell

What researchers found: Team tracked survival of participants for 13 years. Compared with those who scored highly on test, those who correctly identified no more than eight odours were 46 percent more likely to die within 10 years

Poor sense of smell was associated with increased risk of death from dementia or Parkinson’s
disease and death from cardiovascular disease


Sources: Michigan State University, Annals of Internal Medicine, New Scientist
© GRAPHIC NEWS