A dollop of peanut butter and a ruler can be used to confirm a diagnosis of early stage Alzheimer’s disease, University of Florida Health researchers have found.
Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student in the UF McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste, and her colleagues reported the findings of a small pilot study in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.
Stamps came up with the idea of using peanut butter to test for smell sensitivity while she was working with Dr. Kenneth Heilman, the James E. Rooks distinguished professor of neurology and health psychology in the UF College of Medicine’s department of neurology.
She noticed while shadowing in Heilman’s clinic that patients were not tested for their sense of smell. The ability to smell is associated with the first cranial nerve and is often one of the first things to be affected in cognitive decline. Stamps also had been working in the laboratory of Linda Bartoshuk, the William P. Bushnell presidentially endowed professor in the College of Dentistry’s department of community dentistry and behavioral sciences and director of human research in the Center for Smell and Taste.
“Dr. Heilman said, ‘If you can come up with something quick and inexpensive, we can do it,’” Stamps said.
She thought of peanut butter because, she said, it is a “pure odorant” that is only detected by the olfactory nerve and is easy to access.
In the study, patients who were coming to the clinic for testing also sat down with a clinician, 14 grams of peanut butter — which equals about one tablespoon — and a metric ruler. The patient closed his or her eyes and mouth and blocked one nostril. The clinician opened the peanut butter container and held the ruler next to the open nostril while the patient breathed normally. The clinician then moved the peanut butter up the ruler one centimeter at a time during the patient’s exhale until the person could detect an odor. The distance was recorded and the procedure repeated on the other nostril after a 90-second delay.
The clinicians running the test did not know the patients’ diagnoses, which were not usually confirmed until weeks after the initial clinical testing.
The scientists found that patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease had a dramatic difference in detecting odor between the left and right nostril — the left nostril was impaired and did not detect the smell until it was an average of 10 centimeters closer to the nose than the right nostril had made the detection in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This was not the case in patients with other kinds of dementia; instead, these patients had either no differences in odor detection between nostrils or the right nostril was worse at detecting odor than the left one.
Of the 24 patients tested who had mild cognitive impairment, which sometimes signals Alzheimer’s disease and sometimes turns out to be something else, about 10 patients showed a left nostril impairment and 14 patients did not. The researchers said more studies must be conducted to fully understand the implications.
“At the moment, we can use this test to confirm diagnosis,” Stamps said. “But we plan to study patients with mild cognitive impairment to see if this test might be used to predict which patients are going to get Alzheimer’s disease.”
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Diagnose Alzheimer’s
- Remote diagnosis and subsidised bills: How the UK can fix its dementia care crisis
As Europe is waiting for the authorisation by the European Medicines Agency of new “game-changing” anti-amyloid treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, Sweden is also one of a few countries, along with ...
- TV tonight: the first family in the world to be diagnosed with heriditary Alzheimer’s
A documentary charts a profound moment in the understanding of Alzheimer’s. Plus: more twists in the case of disgraced millionaire Robert Durst. Here’s what to watch this evening ...
- My dementia diagnosis was key to unlocking support for our family, says Alastair Stewart
Alzheimer’s Society is calling on the Government to increase access to early and accurate diagnosis to prevent families reaching “costly, avoidable crisis point”. The charity’s CEO, Kate Lee, said: ...
- Dementia NI releases new single to give hope to people newly diagnosed with the condition
Member-led charity Dementia NI has released a new single to give hope to people newly diagnosed with the condition. Launched to mark Dementia Action Week, the core message of The Journey is life ...
- Alastair Stewart shares first warning signs that led to dementia diagnosis
Alastair Stewart has shared the first warning signs he experienced before being diagnosed with dementia. The veteran broadcaster, 72, announced he had early onset vascular dementia in September 2023 ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Diagnose Alzheimer’s
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Diagnose Alzheimer’s” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Alzheimer’s
- TV tonight: the first family in the world to be diagnosed with heriditary Alzheimer’s
A documentary charts a profound moment in the understanding of Alzheimer’s. Plus: more twists in the case of disgraced millionaire Robert Durst. Here’s what to watch this evening ...
- Utahn may be on verge of a significant breakthrough in treating Alzheimer’s
Still, scientific research takes time and money. With dwindling amounts of both when she came to the University of Utah (Alzheimer’s research isn’t her only iron in the fire), Cross confesses she was ...
- Free Alzheimer's education conference set for May 15
As part of its 2024 nation Education America Tour, the Alzheimer's Foundation of America is offering Utahns to spend a few hours on Wednesday [May 15] learning more from experts in the field of ...
- Tips for traveling with a loved one who has Alzheimer’s: Melissa Zapanta-Shelton
As we head into graduation and summer vacation season, here are a few tips for ensuring a smooth travel experience for friends or family members living with Alzheimer’s or another dementia.
- Nutrition and Alzheimer's disease may be linked, study finds
Malnutrition may increase a person’s chances of contracting Alzheimer’s disease, which in turn exacerbates malnutrition. That’s according to a March 2024 study out of China published in Frontiers ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Alzheimer’s
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Alzheimer’s” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]