Woman can detect Parkinson's by the smell years before the onset of the disease

Detecting illness by smell: hope for first diagnostic test for Parkinson's

Many researchers worldwide are working on ways to detect Parkinson's disease earlier. The key to success could be a woman from Scotland. She could smell her husband's serious illness years before she was diagnosed. Their ability could help develop a method for the early detection of Parkinson's disease.

Second most common neurodegenerative disease in Germany

According to the German Society of Neurology (DGN), Parkinson's disease is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system. According to the experts, an estimated 220,000 people live in Germany. Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. At numerous research institutions worldwide, scientists are working on ways to detect the disease earlier. The skills of a woman from the UK could be a key to success. The Scot smelled her husband's Parkinson's disease years before she was diagnosed.

A woman from Scotland was able to recognize her husband's Parkinson's disease ten years before the diagnosis - based on the smell of her partner. (Image: rob3000 / fotolia.com)

Diagnosis especially in the early stages difficult

According to health experts, the diagnosis of Parkinson's, especially in the early stages, is difficult because the disease begins with nonspecific symptoms such as worsening of the sense of smell (olfaction), depression or indigestion.

"Only when the typical movement disorders begin - the shaking starts, the movements become stiff and slow - can the doctor conclude that his patient has Parkinson's disease. By this time, however, a year-long nerve cell death has already taken place, "reported a group of German neurologists earlier this year.

They have for the first time succeeded in detecting Parkinson's disease via a small skin sample.

"This brings us one important step closer to the big goal of recognizing and stopping Parkinson's at an early stage," commented Prof. Dr. med. Günther Deuschl, parkinson expert from the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel at that time in a communication.

The abilities of a woman from the Scottish town of Perth could also contribute to the early diagnosis of the neurodegenerative disease in the future.

Ms. smelled her husband's illness ten years before the diagnosis

There is currently no definitive test for incurable Parkinson's disease. The disease is diagnosed by the symptoms.

However, according to a report by the BBC, British scientists hope for the first diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease.

The breakthrough may be due to the skills of a Perth (Scotland) woman: Joy Milne can detect the disease through the smell.

According to BBC, her husband Les was diagnosed with Parkinson's at the age of 45. But about ten years earlier, Joy was able to find an unusual musk odor with her partner.

"When he was about 34 or 35 years old, we had a very turbulent time and I said to him over and over again: you did not take a shower, you did not brush your teeth properly," Joy told the BBC..

"It was a new smell - I did not know what it was. I did not stop telling him that and he got pretty upset about it. So I had to be quiet, "said the Scot.

Exceptional skills tested

After the retired nurse joined a group supporting Parkinson's patients, she met several people who also shared the characteristic odor.

This she told scientists at a conference. Dr. Tilo Kunath from the University of Edinburgh then did some tests with the woman and confirmed her abilities.

According to the report, Joy received twelve unlabeled T-shirts - six from Parkinson's patients and six from volunteers without the disease.

She identified the six T-shirts that were worn by the patients, but could also detect the smell on a shirt that had been worn by a person in the control group.

Three months later, she was told that the person was diagnosed with Parkinson's.

"She told us that this person has Parkinson's before he knew it, before anyone knew it," Dr. Kunath.

"So I really started to believe that she could detect Parkinson's simply by a smell that was transferred to a T-shirt worn by the person with Parkinson's."

Joy's husband died in 2015 at the age of 65. Her last promise to him was to have her special abilities examined and to find out how she could help with it.

Odor-forming molecules

Dr. Kunath has sought the help of Professor Perdita Barran, a chemical analysis expert from the University of Manchester, to try to isolate the actual molecules that make up the odor that Joy can smell.

Indeed, in the first set of results, ten specific molecules play a role.

As Prof. Barran said, it was Joy and Les "who were absolutely convinced that what they could smell would be something that could be used in a clinical context and now we are starting to do just that." (Ad )