A new study from researchers at Mass General Brigham has found that a simple smell test may help detect early signs of memory problems.
The research team developed a test that lets people sniff different odors to see how well they can recognize and remember them.
The test can be done at home using a special card with odor labels. The study showed that older adults with mild cognitive problems scored lower on the smell test than those with normal memory. The findings were published in the journal Sci…
Dr. Mark Albers, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the senior author of the study, said that spotting memory problems early could allow doctors to identify people who may be at risk for Alzheimer’s disease before serious symptoms begin.
He said their goal was to create a low-cost, easy-to-use test that people could do from home to help move research and treatment forward.
The research focused on a condition called olfactory dysfunction, which is a reduced or lost sense of smell. This issue can sometimes appear before other symptoms of brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and traumatic brain injuries. Dr. Albers helped launch the company that makes the Aromha Brain Health Test, the tool used in the study.
To test the tool, researchers recruited people who had concerns about their memory or had already been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. They also included people with no memory complaints and people who had lost their sense of smell. Some participants spoke English and others spoke Spanish.
The results showed that the ability to recognize and remember smells gets worse with age. But people with mild memory problems did even worse than those of the same age with normal memory.
Importantly, people did equally well on the test whether they were taking it in English or Spanish, and whether or not they were being watched by a research assistant.
This means the test works well across different languages and settings, and people can take it on their own without needing a doctor present. The researchers believe this smell test could be used in future clinical studies to help predict who might develop diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Albers said that future research should include more detailed brain tests and follow people over time to see if their sense of smell predicts how their memory changes. For now, the results are promising.
A simple smell test might one day become a useful tool for identifying early signs of brain problems and helping people get support and treatment earlier.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease , and new non-drug treatment that could help prevent Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about diet that may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and results showing some dementia cases could be prevented by changing these 12 things.
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