United Kingdom researchers are learning if a woman's extraordinarily sharp sense of smell could help them to find a Parkinson's disease breakthrough that could help them to diagnose patients with the central nervous system disorder before symptoms appear. Two decades ago she noticed a certain kind of smell when her husband was nearby, and realized later that she had sensed a symptom of the disease before he received a formal Parkinson's diagnosis.
The study was conducted by Dr. Tilo Kunath at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Joy Milne described her husband Les' smell as strong and a little musky. She learned later from many stories that certain diseases can be detected by picking up a scent.
Milne and Kunath would team up to test if the former's olfactory receptors could detect the disease in other Parkinson's patients. The pilot study included six people with Parkinson's disease and also six people without it.
Subjects wore a t-shirt for one day. Then the researchers collected them and asked Milne to take a whiff of the clothing to determine whether or not the wearer suffered from Parkinson's, according to BBC.
Milne was able to determine who had the disease and who did not, with almost 100 percent accuracy. Her one "wrong" guess was a man in the non-Parkinson's control group who was actually diagnosed with the severe condition eight months later.
A new study will include 200 volunteers. Researchers will examine skin swabs from the subjects to find particular molecules that cause a unique smell.
The researchers will also examine "human detectors" like Milne. They will use their noses to check if the study's subjects have Parkinson's, to find a "biomarker" sign of the disorder.
James Beck is vice president of the Parkinson's Disease Foundation. He told ABC News that highly-trained Parkinson's specialists provide a correct diagnosis about 90 percent of the time.
Beck explained that many early Parkinson's disease symptoms are difficult to link to the ailment because they are common in other diseases. Examples include rigid muscles, impaired balance, and slower movement, according to ABC News.
Milne's husband died earlier this year. She explained that her husband would have been excited about how the study could be a game changer in Parkinson's disease diagnoses.