What do strawberries, lemon, smoke, leather and pineapple have in common? Well, according to a recent study on memory, they're five of the ten most recognisable smells that may help detect the first signs of Alzheimer's disease.
The inability to recognise these scents appears to show which people are developing dementia as opposed to those suffering simple mental decline due to aging, says Dr D.P. Devanand of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University.
Using a relatively quick and easy ten-smell test, Devanand evaluated 150 patients with minimal to mild cognitive impairment every six months, and 63 healthy subjects annually, for an average follow-up of five years.
However, Devanand cautioned that these results are very preliminary and that it's difficult to accurately diagnose who is going to get Alzheimer's over time.
Scientists hope this ''scratch and sniff'' test will improve diagnoses, so patients can begin taking antidementia drugs long before Alzheimer's would normally be diagnosed.
(Source: http://www.rdasia.com/do_you_smell_that)
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