嗅觉测试或有助于更早发现帕金森病

PEOPLE with Parkinson’s disease seem less able to enjoy pleasant smells, such as lemon. This has led scientists to conclude that “the world smells different” with the condition. The discovery could help doctors cheaply and non-invasively diagnose Parkinson’s, a process that usually takes several years. Loss of the sense of smell is a core symptom of Parkinson’s, affecting 75 to 90 per cent of people and often preceding the tremors commonly associated with the condition. There have been many efforts to use the loss of smell as a diagnostic tool, but these have been complicated by the fact that this sense also declines with healthy ageing. …