A study would have identified some warning symptoms of general life expectancy over the years, among which you will be surprised to find out how a stinky symptom can predict the risk of death within the next 10 years.
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A study would have identified some warning symptoms of general life expectancy over the years, among which you will be surprised to find out how a stinky symptom can predict the risk of death within the next 10 years.
The research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, in particular, has studied some factors that can explain the relationship between poor sense of smell and increased risk of death.
Many seniors, in fact, have a poor sense of smell which in turn can affect their appetite, their safety and the quality of their life. Loss of smell is also associated with an increased risk of death and could be an early sign of certain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Read also: Sense of health: if you smell these smells after the age of 50 you could live 5 years longer
I study
The study researchers set out to examine the association between poor sense of smell and the risk of death from any cause, as well as whether that association was different depending on ethnicity or gender.
They also studied some factors that could explain this relationship, such as weight loss and some neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
The study sample predicted approx 2289 adultsaged 71 and 82 yearshalf of whom were women and about 4 out of 10 participants were African American.
Participants were given a smell identification test, in which they were asked to identify about 12 common smells and each correct answer was given a point. Thanks to these scores, the researchers classified the participants into three categories: good sense of smell, moderate and poor.
Subsequently, the participants were examined (mainly for body weight) and subjected to cognitive tests and subsequently identified as suffering from dementia or Parkinson’s disease.
Research has shown that those who scored low on the smell test had a 46% higher risk of dying within 10 years e by 30% within 13 yearscompared to those who had a stronger sense of smell.
Therefore, a poor sense of smell would be associated with old age, male sex, African American ethnicity, alcohol consumption and smoking. It has also been associated with an increased risk of death from dementia or Parkinson’s disease and death from cardiovascular disease.
In conclusion, loss of smell is associated with an increased risk of long-term death, while weight loss, the onset of dementia or Parkinson’s disease explain only part of this relationship.
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Source: acpjournals.org
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