A 72-year-old Scottish woman has the ability to “feel” Parkinson's disease.
She claimed to have noticed a change in smell in her husband and to have smelled a “musky aroma”.
Six years later, the man was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
The septuagenarian is actually suffering from a rare disease which means that she has a very developed sense of smell, reports the HuffPost.
Thanks to this observation, scientists from the University of Manchester are working on a new screening test.
They published the results of their research this Wednesday, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Joy Milne, who can 'smell Parkinson's Disease' has helped scientists from The University of Manchester develop a test to diagnose the disease within minutes.
👃 pic.twitter.com/j68oSQnM2o
— The University of Manchester (@OfficialUoM) September 8, 2022
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A chemical modification of sebum
The Scot was able to identify sick people just by smell, sniffing worn t-shirts.
She was even able to identify the disease in a person who was diagnosed positive eight months later.
Scientists then believe that the disease causes a chemical change in the skin's oil, sebum.
Comparison tests were therefore carried out between 79 affected people and 71 unaffected people.
In 2019, they succeeded in identifying molecules linked to Parkinson's disease in skin samples.
They were thus able to set up a test, carried out using a cotton swab passed in the neck, which allows the identification of molecules linked to the disease.
Get the right treatment
An interesting solution since Parkinson's disease, neurodegenerative and without treatment, is the second most common disease in France after Alzheimer's.
The patients suffer in particular from tremors and difficulties in moving.
If the test still requires confirmation, it could represent a small revolution.
The disease is now detected via the patient's symptoms and history.
Although there is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, "a confirmatory diagnosis would allow those affected to receive the right treatment and obtain the drugs that will help relieve their symptoms", explained to the
Telegraph
Professor Perdita Barran, who helped with the research.
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