Detect Parkinson’s disease before it appears, simply by an olfactory test? It’s possible. Joy Milne proved it to researchers at the University of Manchester who have been looking very seriously at the subject for a few years.
It all starts in 1986: Joy is a nurse with a hypersensitive sense of smell (we talk about hyperosmia). While her husband is 33, she detects a change in his smell, explaining that it was becoming “a little woody, musky”. A few years later, when she is in the same room as many people with Parkinson’s disease, she realizes that they give off this same smell.
She shares her discovery with a disease researcher, who discusses it with a fellow analytical chemist. At first, they hardly believe her and believe that she simply noticed the characteristic smells of old people.
A blind test passed 100%
But another biochemist decides to believe it and encourages the two scientists to find Mrs. Milne to give her blind tests. She was asked to smell the t-shirts of 12 people (6 with Parkinson’s, 6 healthy) and Joy was able to detect the disease in 100% of cases. She also indicated that a person first in good health was affected by the disease… and eight months later, the positive diagnosis for this chronic neurodegenerative condition falls.
A test that could allow an early diagnosis
Of course, the t-shirt test is not enough and since then researchers have been trying to develop a more scientific test. They collected more than 800 samples of sebum, this oily substance secreted by the skin, taken from the backs of volunteers. Conclusion: certain molecules were present in large numbers in people with Parkinson’s disease. It remains to verify this experiment and determine whether it is possible to detect this smell before the symptoms of the disease appear. Researchers also hope to understand how this condition triggers the production of these molecules in the body.