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Study Confirms Sniff Test May Be Useful in Diagnosing Early Alzheimer’s

NEUROSCIENCE NEWSDECEMBER 20, 2016Summary: Researchers report the sniff test may be used to diagnose
mild cognitive impairment.

Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Adds to evidence that decline in sense of smell occurs alongside cognitive decline.

Tests that measure the sense of smell may soon become common in neurologists’ offices. Scientists have been finding increasing evidence that the sense of smell declines sharply in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and now a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published today in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease confirms that administering a simple “sniff test” can enhance the accuracy of diagnosing this dreaded disease.

The sniff test also appears to be useful for diagnosing a pre-dementia condition called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which often progresses to Alzheimer’s dementia within a few years.