It’s no secret that some of our most vivid memories are triggered by the senses; if you’ve ever unexpectedly caught a whiff of something that took you back in time, you can relate. But now, three distinct scents and the ability to identify them have been scientifically linked with an elderly person’s risk of developing dementia.
Scientists from the University of California, San Fransisco (UCSF), have found that those who retain good sensory function in the later stages of life are up to half as likely to develop dementia. The researches followed 1,800 people in their seventies for up to 10 years. They concluded that the ability to identify the scent of roses, paint-thinner, and lemons is linked to a lower risk of dementia. The results were published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Hearing, vision, and touch were taken into account in addition to smell. But smell – tested by identifying distinctive odors like onions and turpentine – was found to have the biggest impact.
The participants whose sense of smell declined by 10% had a 19% higher risk of developing dementia, compared to 1% to 3% increased odds for those who had the same decline in vision, hearing or touch.
The UCSF scientists set out to uncover if sensory function is linked to the disease, with past studies suggesting an association. At the start of the study, all the participants were dementia-free, with 328 (18%) developing the condition over the next decade. After ranking the participants’ sensory levels, the scientists found 27% of those with a poor score were later diagnosed with dementia. This is compared to 19% in the middle range and 12% who scored “good”.
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Scientists now wonder if the parts of the brain affected by dementia may also regulate our sense of smell. “The olfactory bulb, which is critical for smell, is affected fairly early on in the course of the disease,” said lead author Dr Willa Brenowitz. “It’s thought that smell may be a preclinical indicator of dementia, while hearing and vision may have more of a role in promoting dementia.”
Moreover, sensory decline in itself may trigger memory loss. “We found that with deteriorating multi-sensory functioning, the risk of cognitive decline increased in a dose-response manner,” said study author Dr Kristine Yaffe. “Even mild or moderate sensory impairments across multiple domains were associated with an increased risk of dementia, indicating that people with poor multi-sensory function are a high-risk population that could be targeted prior to dementia onset for intervention.”
The scientists have suggested sensory impairment may be due to “underlying neurodegeneration or the same disease processes as those affecting cognition, such as stroke.” Results of the study further revealed the participants with good multi-sensory function were generally healthier, with a lower rate of diabetes, heart disease, high-blood pressure or stroke. Additionally, they were more likely to have completed some form of higher education, suggesting that in earlier stages of life may have a lasting impact for decades to come.
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