Researchers at the University of Florida have developed an easy, low-cost test using peanut butter that could help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages. This new method, led by Jennifer J. Stamps and her team, offers a non-invasive way to detect the disease by testing a person’s sense of smell. The study was published in the Journal of Neurological Science.
Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is very important. It allows doctors to manage the condition more effectively and gives patients and families time to plan for the future. It also helps researchers test new treatments before the disease becomes too advanced.
One of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s is a reduced sense of smell. This happens because the part of the brain responsible for detecting smells—the olfactory cortex—is one of the first areas damaged by the disease.
Interestingly, previous studies have shown that this damage often affects the left side of the brain more than the right. As a result, people with Alzheimer’s may lose their sense of smell more on the left side of the nose than the right.
To test this idea, the researchers designed a simple smell test using peanut butter. They chose peanut butter because it has a strong, familiar scent and is easy to find. The test involved placing a small amount (14 grams) of peanut butter in a container and measuring how close it needed to be before a person could smell it.
The test was done with one nostril at a time. The researchers moved the peanut butter 1 centimeter closer with each breath until the person said they could smell it. A ruler was used to measure the distance for each nostril.
The team tested 94 participants, including 18 people with probable Alzheimer’s, 24 with mild cognitive impairment, 26 with other types of dementia, and 26 healthy individuals.
The results were striking. People with probable Alzheimer’s had a large difference between their nostrils. On average, they could smell the peanut butter at 17.4 cm with their right nostril but only 5.1 cm with their left. This big difference did not appear in people with other kinds of dementia or in healthy individuals.
This suggests that the peanut butter test could be a helpful tool for spotting Alzheimer’s early. It is easy to use, doesn’t require expensive equipment, and could be done in a doctor’s office or even at home under supervision.
While more research is needed to confirm its accuracy in larger groups of people, this test could become a useful way to help doctors decide who might need further testing or treatment.
The study also shows how our senses—like smell—can offer clues about what’s happening inside the brain. As scientists learn more about how diseases like Alzheimer’s affect the brain, they can develop better tools to find and treat these conditions sooner.
This simple peanut butter test may be one small step, but it represents a big opportunity to improve early detection and care for people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about Vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer’s, vascular dementia, and Oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and results showing flavonoid-rich foods could improve survival in Parkinson’s disease.
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