- Alzheimer’s disease is the commonest form of dementia, affecting more than 6 million people in the United States.
- Early diagnosis is key to managing the disease, but initial symptoms, such as memory issues, are often dismissed as normal signs of aging.
- A new study has found that carriers of the APOE ε4 gene, who are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, may lose their ability to identify odors earlier than those who do not carry the gene variant.
- As this impaired sense of smell may be an early sign of future cognitive problems, testing people’s sense of smell could help identify those at greater risk of Alzheimer’s.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, around 1 in 9 people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the United States, a total of 6.7 million people. With an aging population, experts expect this number to exceed 12 million by 2050.
Alzheimer’s is an incurable, progressive disease, but it is not inevitable in aging. If a person starts to experience memory problems and cognitive deficits, these should not be dismissed as normal signs of aging, as early diagnosis allows treatment that can alleviate symptoms.
Around 13.7% of people worldwide carry a gene variant,
A new study published in Neurology found that people who carry this gene variant may experience an impaired sense of smell before any symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, such as mild cognitive impairment, appear.
The researchers suggest that testing a person’s ability to detect odors may be useful for identifying those at risk.
“This is an interesting study assessing the relationship between declines in odor sensitivity and odor identification in APOE ε4 carriers and the risk of future cognitive decline.”
– Dr. Emily D. Clark, D.O., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Care,…
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