A simple 'sniff test' is accurate in diagnosing dementia

A simple 'sniff test' could help to detect dementia, scientists claim.

Sense of smell is known to decline sharply in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Experts believe this is because the build-up of toxic clumps in the brain - the signature hallmark of dementia - affects the memory region. 

But asking people at risk to try and identify a range of odours could provide an accurate early diagnosis, a new study found.

The 5-minute test could also be used to detect mild cognitive impairment - the pre-cursor to the debilitating disease, it suggested. 

 

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania asked 728 elderly people to detect 16 different odours using the Sniffin' Sticks test - which was developed in Germany and available to buy online.

A standard cognitive test was also used to check their brain's ability to function.

Participants had already been evaluated and placed in one of three neurological categories: 'healthy older adult', 'mild cognitive impairment' or 'Alzheimer's dementia'.

They found that the cognitive test given on its own was only effective in diagnosing 75 per cent of people.

But that figure rose to 87 per cent when the sniff test results were added, the study published the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found. 

Study author David Roalf said: 'There's the exciting possibility here that a decline in the sense of smell can be used to identify people at risk years before they develop dementia.

'These results suggest that a simple odour identification test can be a useful supplementary tool for clinically categorising mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's.'  

This comes after Mayo Clinic researchers last year found that elderly people performing badly in a series of smell tests were more likely to show signs of memory loss over the next three and a half years.

While those who had the worse sense of smell were at the highest risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

However, experts warn that there are many reasons that someone may start to lose their sense of smell in later life - and it may not necessarily be an indicator of dementia. 

Smoking and exposure to harmful particles in the air is known to reduce the amount of nerve endings.

While old age is also responsible, and causes the nose to produce less mucus. 

Mucus helps odours stay in the nose long enough to be detected by the nerve endings, which then transmit a message to the brain.

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