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Altered
Sense of Smell may Point to Alzheimer's
(Reuters Health, 8/2/05)
Dr. Matthias H. Tabert of Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons, NY, and team, administered the
40-item University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT)
to 310 subjects, consisting of 147 patients who were slightly
cognitively impaired, 100 who had Alzheimer’s disease and 63
healthy controls. The investigators found that difficulty
identifying ten of the scents—menthol, clove, leather,
strawberry, lilac, pineapple, smoke, soap, natural gas and
lemon—was associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These findings
indicate that the 10-item smell identification test may be an
efficient way to identify people at risk for developing this
condition.
(Annals of Neurology, July 2005.) |
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