The nose knows When it comes to cognitive decline, the nose knows. Earlier this year, in the e-Alert "Good Catch" (4/25/07), I told you about a Columbia University study that confirmed a phenomenon that's only recently received the research it deserves: Many people with the type of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) that leads to Alzheimer's disease have difficulty in identifying some aromas. Now a new study from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center confirms the Columbia results, moving this phenomenon closer to becoming a diagnostic tool. STUDY PROFILE - Nearly 600 elderly subjects with no cognitive impairment took aroma identification tests consisting of 12 common aromas
- Every year for up to five years, each subject was given a neurological examination and tested again in aroma identification
- Over the course of the study period, 177 subjects developed MCI
- Results showed that subjects who were only able to correctly identify eight or fewer of the aromas were 50 percent more likely to develop MCI compared with subjects who were able to identify 11 or more aromas
The abnormal protein tangles within brain cells, which are typical in Alzheimer's patients, develop in regions of the brain associated with memory, including the memory of aromas. You can read more about this phenomenon in "Good Catch" at this link: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealerts/ea200704/ea20070425a.html Sources:
"Olfactory Identification and Incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Age" Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 64, No. 7, July 2007, archpsyc.ama-assn.org | 
