Alright, so this doesn’t necessarily imply that our sense of smell makes us all somehow psychic. However, scientists think that elderly people can sense how many years they may have left in them.
Researchers “sought to determine if olfactory dysfunction is a harbinger of 5-year mortality,” according to a 2014 study they released.” They found that “a person’s likelihood of dying is even stronger when they lose their sense of smell.”
Indeed, according to this study, olfactory dysfunction is a more reliable predictor than “lung disease, cancer, or heart failure.” Whoa!
Lead author Dr. Jayant Pinto, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Chicago, stated in a statement made available to Live Science, “We think [the] loss of sense of smell is like the canary in the coal mine.” Although it doesn’t immediately cause death, it is a sign that something has gone wrong and that harm has been done.
The study examined “a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults” in order to reach this conclusion. Among them were 3,005 individuals, ages 57 to 85, who lived in the neighborhood.
According to the study, the people were initially examined in 2005–2006, and in 2010–11, their mortality was ascertained. Five odors were given to each adult: “peppermint, fish, orange, rose, and leather.”
With at least four of the five scents correctly identified, 78% of the participants were classified as having “normal smelling abilities.” About 20% of respondents accurately identified two or three fragrances, while the remaining 3.5 percent were unable to identify any scent at all or just one out of the five.
It was discovered that 430 of the adults had died five years later. Of those who died, thirty-nine percent were adults who had a “significant loss of smell.”
The study also showed that just 10% of the adults who passed away passed their scent test with only five years’ notice, while 19% of the adults who died had mild smell loss.
Co-author of the study and University of Chicago psychology professor Martha McClintock stated in a statement also acquired by Live Science, “Obviously, people don’t die just because their olfactory system is damaged.”
Nonetheless, it’s believed that “a decreased ability to smell may signal what McClintock called a ‘decrease in the body’s ability to rebuild key components that are declining with age,’ leading to death by other causes.”
McClintock further added that olfactory dysfunction “could be a sign of slowed cellular regeneration, or, it could be the result of years of toxic environmental exposures.”
How interesting is this?
