Sense of Smell and Parkinson's Disease

In the earliest stage of Parkinson's disease, impaired sense of smell can occur. So that this means that an impaired sense of smell indicate the development of Parkinson's disease?



As per researchers, smell impairment can precede the development of PD in men by at least four years.

The results showed that an odor identification deficit can predate the development of PD by at least four years, eventhough it was not a strong predictor beyond this time period. Decreased odor identification was linked to older age, smoking, more coffee consumption, less frequent bowel movements, lower cognitive function and excessive daytime sleepiness, but even after adjusting for these factors, those with the lowest olfactory scores, meaning they had the poorest odor identification, had a five times greater risk of developing PD than those with the highest scores.

"One interpretation of this finding is that the relationship of olfactory deficits to higher risk of future PD begins to weaken beyond a threshold of approximately four years between testing and diagnosis," the authors state.

Caught your attention, didn't I? Read on

Hope everyone of you had a great Easter!! Posted by: Gloria Gamat    Source