Woman Who Can Smell Parkinsonâs Helps Develop Test
Joy Milne, 72, from Perth, Scotland, has a hyper-sensitive sense of smell, allowing her to be able to smell Parkinsonâs disease, which progressively damages parts of the brain over many years.
She discovered her unusual ability when her late husband, Les, developed a different odour when he was 33. She described it as a âmusky aromaâ. That was 12 years before he was diagnosed with Parkinsonâs. Les, who was a doctor, was determined to research the link between odour and Parkinsonâs, and contacted Dr Tilo Kunath at the University of Edinburgh, who paired up with Professor Perdita Barran to begin the research. They determined that the reasons for a change in the scent of a person suffering the disease is due to a chemical change of the skin oil (sebum).
In the preliminary sessions, Milne was asked to smell T-shirts worn by people who had Parkinsonâs and those who did not. She successfully identified all of the Parkinsonâs patients, but told researchers that a member of the control group, a non-Parkinsonâs patient, did smell like the disease. 8 months later, they were diagnosed with the disease.
Now, a team of researchers at the University of Manchester have developed a simple test involving a cotton bud swiped down the back of the neck that can identify those with Parkinsonâs. The molecules on the cotton bud can be examined using mass spectrometry, which helps the diagnosis. This is a huge leap forward, as there is no definitive test for Parkinsonâs, and a diagnosis is based on symptoms and medical history. Currently, there are no cures for Parkinsonâs, but an early diagnosis can help begin the treatment early, lessening the speed of the deterioration.
Milne says she can sometimes smell that a person has Parkinsonâs when walking down the street, but has been told by medical ethicists that she cannot tell them. She is continuing to work with scientists to see if she can smell other diseases, like cancer or TB, and hopes that one day her talent can be considered normal diagnosis.
Source: the Guardian, written by PA Media