Trouble Distinguishing Odors Tied to Shorter Life Span

A study of 1,169 Medicare beneficiaries found that older people who have trouble distinguishing between odors appear to have a short life span.Results of the four-year study found that the mortality rate was 45 percent in participants with the lowest scores on a 40-item smell test compared with 18 percent of participants with the highest scores.

 

“The increased risk of death increased progressively with worse performance in the smell identification test and was highest in those with the worst smelling ability, even after adjusting for medical burden and dementia,” said Dr. Davangere Devanand, lead author of the Annals of Neurology study.

For more information about the study, visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.24447/abstract?campaign=wolacceptedarticle.  
 

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