A wife in England first noticed the unique smell on her husband and others with Parkinson’s.
Some experts estimate Parkinson’s Disease affects up to a million Americans. This debilitating disease causes muscle stiffness and problems with balance and coordination as well as shaking that can be difficult to live with. While the disease doesn’t cause death directly, people with Parkinson’s can be more vulnerable to other infections. While many people with this disease live a long life, it’s not an easy affliction to accommodate.
Diseases in the Parkinson’s family can be more dire than Parkinson’s itself such as Lewy Bodies dementia. This can be akin to Alzheimer’s. Being able to detect Parkinson’s early, however, can be of great benefit as this can lead to early treatments that are often most effective in the earlier stages of the disease. Patients can also receive better supportive care.
The trouble is, diagnosing Parkinson’s can be difficult. This disease doesn’t have a specific test you can fail and thereby be diagnosed with the sickness. A doctor with extensive knowledge of the nervous system typically assesses you and looks for key markers of the disease. These include tremors in your hands, head, or other limbs, muscle stiffness, and impaired coordination.
A new approach could be changing all of this, however, and it has to do with your nose and having a keen sense of smell.
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A musty smell could lead to a future diagnosis
Joy Milne, a retired nurse from Perth in England has been a leader in helping researchers create a new system they say can detect Parkinson’s in just three minutes.
A report on BBC.com tells how Milne first identified a difference in the way her husband smelled. This was twelve years before he was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson’s. She described the odor as an unpleasant mustiness around his shoulders and near the back of his neck. When they went to a support group together after he was diagnosed, that’s when Joy noticed that others with the disease also had this distinctive smell.
Joy went on to mention her discovery to a group of scientists at a talk and they became curious. A test at Edinburgh University found she could detect 100% of people in a small group who had Parkinson’s simply by smelling their t-shirt after they’d worn it for the day.
New methods of diagnosis
Scientists have discovered more about Joy’s phenomenon and a team at the University of Manchester has now developed a skin-swab test based on her findings. Scientists say it’s about 95% accurate. Researchers analyzed key differences found in a patient’s sebum, an oily substance found in your skin, to make their diagnosis.
Earlier detection can lead families to spend more time together in the better years they have left. Scientists are also hoping their new discovery may also lead to the development of important new treatments for Parkinson’s.
For more information on Parkinson’s disease, check out michaeljfox.com and parkinson.org.
photo credits: mazur serhiy UA/Shutterstock.com
