The deterioration of the sense of smell in older people - a sign of impending death Bashny.Net

Scientists have found a simple method to determine how close the old man came to his konchine



We all know the typical signs of aging: slow response, the loss of flexibility, balance problems. But according to a new study is unlikely any of these signs can be more reliable than the deterioration of the sense of smell. The researchers found that the ability of elderly people to distinguish between odors reliably predicts whether a person will live five years or not. The sense of smell in this case acts as the "canary in the coal mine».

The study used data from a research project known as NSHAP, during which surveyed more than 3,000 Americans aged 57 to 85 years. The study experts also checked the sense of smell of all the participants. They are placed in front of the test five pens, each pen was the characteristic smell of familiar subjects. Felt smelled roses, leather, orange, fish, mint. The subjects sniffed them one by one, and then was made a special rating that takes into account the ability of the test to distinguish between odors. Five years later, the researchers decided to re-conduct tests with the same 3,000 participants, however, we found that 450 subjects with a poor sense of smell had died.

Why deterioration smell correlates with low life expectancy?



Researchers have a number of assumptions in this account: heart disease, lung disease, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, and even poor nutrition. However, a clear correlation between all of these diseases and the deterioration of the sense of smell, researchers still have not found. Thus, all that we know at the moment is that the rapidly deteriorating sense of smell can help predict the likely death of the patient in the next five years. The study's author, Jayant Pinto compares the sense of smell with the canary in the mine. That is a clear sign that the body is something went wrong, as before. However, Pinto is optimistic, he believes that his findings will help doctors diagnose serious diseases before they lead to death.

via factroom.ru