Could olfactory loss point to Alzheimer's disease?
By the time you start losing your memory, it`s almost too late. That`s because the damage to your brain associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may already have been going on for as long as twenty years. Which is why there is so much scientific interest in finding ways to detect the presence of the disease early on. Scientists now believe that simple odor identification tests may help track the progression of the disease before symptoms actually appear, particularly among those at risk. "Despite all the research in the area, no effective treatment has yet been found for AD," says Dr. John Breitner, the director of the Centre for Studies on Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease at the Douglas Mental Health Research Centre of McGill University. He is one of the authors of the study on the subject that was recently published in the journal Neurology . "But, if we can delay the onset of symptoms by just five years, we should be able to reduce the prevalence and sev...