Alzheimer's disease patient Isidora Tomaz, 82, sits in her armchair with two chairs placed in front of her by her husband Amilcar Dos Santos (unseen) to prevent her from falling to the ground in their house in Lisbon
Alzheimer's disease patient Isidora Tomaz, 82, sits in her armchair with two chairs placed in front of her by her husband Amilcar Dos Santos (unseen) to prevent her from falling to the ground in their house in Lisbon September 15, 2009. Several low income Portuguese families with Alzheimer's patients under their care are supported by Portugal's Alzheimer Association, a charity. Alzheimer Europe estimates the number of Alzheimer's patients in the European Union alone to surpass 7.0 million. Reuters

A new study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN suggests that decreased sense of smell might signify the onset of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers say that conducting a smell test among mentally healthy adults may help identify the category who are at a greater risk of developing the disease.

During a smell test conducted on a group of 1,430 cognitively normal individuals, the researchers found that those who scored poorly were 2.2 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than those whose scores lied within the normal range. In addition, if the individuals also had memory problems, they were more likely to develop a full-blown Alzheimer's disease, U.S. Health reports.

The smell test included six food and non-food items such as rose, pineapple, paint thinner, smoke and chocolate, according to U.S. National Library of Medicine. During the study, the lead researcher Rosebud Roberts theorised that as dementia progresses, the function of the part of the brain responsible for sensing smell starts to impend. As the sense of smell reduces, there is an increased chance of developing other symptoms associated with Alzheimer's, such as memory loss.

"These findings may indicate that there could be a problem linked to neurodegenerative diseases in general," said James Hendrix of the Alzheimer's Association, in a statement. "It would need follow-up to determine whether it was Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson disease or some other condition."

However, Hendrix believes that it may be too soon to start using a smell test as a way to identify persons at a risk of developing Alzheimer's. He says that receptors for smell also reside in an individual's brain. Therefore, one needs to have a healthy brain to smell things around.

The complete study details have been published in the Nov.16 issue of the online journal JAMA Neurology.

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