|
medpundit |
||
 |
 |
|
Tuesday, December 14, 2004The nose is the newest clue to Alzheimer's disease. A simple scent test could determine whether a case of mild, short-term memory loss will develop into the progressive neurological disorder. Specific scents are the key. Strawberry, smoke, soap, menthol, clove, pineapple, natural gas,lilac, lemon and leather: People with mild cognitive impairment who cannot identify these scents will develop Alzheimer's disease, according to research from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Details are sparse. The findings were presented at a meeting, not published, and the news article is skimpy on specifics: Dr. Devanand offered the odor-identification test to 150 patients with mild cognitive impairment twice in one year. Sixty-three healthy seniors were tested once. He followed up on the groups' progress after five years. His research found that the 10 scents "proved to be the best predictors for Alzheimer's disease. Interesting, and very useful if it pans out to be true. But very rarely do these conference reports end up being reproducible. posted by Sydney on 12/14/2004 06:54:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|
