Older men who have an impaired sense of smell may be at a higher risk for the development of Parkinson’s disease, according to new research. Parkinson’s disease, a relatively common neurological illness affecting older adults, can cause movement problems such as tremors and rigidity, along with a mild declines in intellectual function. These changes are thought to occur because of damage to the cells that make dopamine - a key protein that regulates both movement and thought. Researchers have been hunting for screening tools that might help detect people who are at risk for developing Parkinson’s, to slow the disease’s progression. Now, researchers have gotten closer to finding such a tool. Researchers from the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu examined more than 2,000 men who had no symptoms of the illness and tested their ability to identify various odors from a preset odor identification kit. After controlling for age, cigarette smoking, and intellectual factors, they found that men who scored poorly on odor testing were more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease within 4 years.
