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Can't smell lemons, lilac?
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10 Smells Predicting Alzheimer's Identified
Dec. 13, 2004 -- The inability to identify the
smell of lemons, lilac, leather and seven other odors predicts which
patients with minimal to mild cognitive impairment (MMCI) will develop
Alzheimer's Disease, according to a study presented today at the
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) annual meeting. For
patients with MMCI, the odor identification test was found to be a
strong predictor of Alzheimer's Disease during follow-up, and compared
favorably with reduction in brain volumes on MRI scan and memory test
performance as potential predictors.
"Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease is critical for patients and
their families to receive the most beneficial treatment and
medications," says lead researcher D.P. Devanand, MD, Professor of
Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology at Columbia University and Co-Director
of the Memory Disorders Center at the New York State Psychiatric
Institute. "While currently there is no cure for the disease, early
diagnosis and treatment can help patients and their families to better
plan their lives."
Smell identification test results from Alzheimer's
disease patients, MMCI patients and healthy elderly subjects were
analyzed to select an optimal subset of fragrances that distinguished
Alzheimer's and MMCI patients who developed the disease from healthy
subjects and MMCI patients who did not develop Alzheimer's. Results of
the 10-smell test, which can be administered in five to eight minutes,
were analyzed in Dr. Devanand's study which evaluated 150 patients with
MMCI every six months and 63 healthy elderly subjects annually, with
average follow-up duration of five years. Inability to identify 10
specific odors (derived from the broader study) proved to be the best
predictors for Alzheimer's Disease: strawberry, smoke, soap, menthol,
clove, pineapple, natural gas, lilac, lemon and leather.
"Narrowing the list of odors can potentially
expedite screening and help with early diagnosis," says Dr. Devanand,
who added that pathological studies of brains of patients with
Alzheimer's disease show that the nerve pathways involved in perceiving
and recognizing odors are affected at a very early stage.
The research, funded by the National Institute on
Aging, also focuses on brain imaging tests and performance on memory and
other cognitive tests, and is expected to help physicians determine the
most effective combination of tests to diagnose Alzheimer's disease.
An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's
Disease, a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person's
memory. The number of Americans with the disease has more than doubled
since 1980.
Meeting today in San Juan, Puerto Rico, ACNP,
founded in 1961, is a professional organization of more than 700 leading
scientists, including four Nobel Laureates. The mission of ACNP is to
further research and education in neuropsychopharmacology and related
fields in the following ways: promoting the interaction of a broad range
of scientific disciplines of brain and behavior in order to advance the
understanding of prevention and treatment of disease of the nervous
system including psychiatric, neurological, behavioral and addictive
disorders; encouraging scientists to enter research careers in fields
related to these disorders and their treatment; and ensuring the
dissemination of relevant scientific advances.
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