General Discussion

KamaAina

(78,249 posts) Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:29 PM Oct 2015

Woman amazes scientists with her ability to smell Parkinson's disease

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Woman-claims-she-can-smell-Parkinson-s-disease-6586682.php

A Scottish woman may have clued researchers into an easy way to diagnose Parkinson's disease.

Joy Milne lost her husband, Les, to the disease in June. She told the BBC he began to smell differently long before doctors identified him as a Parkinson's patient. Joy says his odor was subtle and she occasionally got whiffs of a musky smell.

She suspected his scent was associated with the disease when Les received his official diagnosis and the couple began socializing with other Parkinson's patients. She noticed they gave off the same smell as her husband.

Scientists at Edinburgh University were intrigued by Joy's observations and put her nose to the test — and discovered that she seems to have the ability to sniff out Parkinson's.

17 replies

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Highlight:

Woman amazes scientists with her ability to smell Parkinson's disease (Original Post) KamaAina Oct 2015 OP

amazing. Saphire Oct 2015 #1

How is that possible? Rex Oct 2015 #2

I have read that dogs can smell cancer in undiagnosed people. riversedge Oct 2015 #3

That is amazing since we are talking about something microscopic, yet gives off an odor. Rex Oct 2015 #4

Human eye can sense one photon. Octafish Oct 2015 #6

I did not know we as a species could detect matter at that level or odors on that scale. Rex Oct 2015 #8

It IS amazing. Octafish Oct 2015 #12

The quantum world is strange. Rex Oct 2015 #13

You can see light hitting dust particles... Thor_MN Oct 2015 #17

IMO, it's more like having a mutated receptor BadgerKid Oct 2015 #15

is she going on tour with Uri Geller ? olddots Oct 2015 #5

If she really can smell it, then scent hounds (like beagles) should be trainable to detect it too Electric Monk Oct 2015 #7

Absolutely agree. Aerows Oct 2015 #10

That would be a hell of a lot cheaper and more efficient than current 'trial and error' tests and PatrickforO Oct 2015 #11

This is fascinating. smirkymonkey Oct 2015 #9

Great Britain med schools teach using sense of smell in diagnosing. trof Oct 2015 #14

Cancer also seems to have that effect. backscatter712 Oct 2015 #16

Saphire

(2,437 posts)

1. amazing.

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:30 PM

Oct 2015

Rex

(65,616 posts)

2. How is that possible?

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:38 PM

Oct 2015

Amazing!

riversedge

(70,047 posts)

3. I have read that dogs can smell cancer in undiagnosed people.

Reply to Rex (Reply #2)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:40 PM

Oct 2015

Rex

(65,616 posts)

4. That is amazing since we are talking about something microscopic, yet gives off an odor.

Reply to riversedge (Reply #3)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:41 PM

Oct 2015

Makes me wonder if lead atoms smell different than hydrogen atoms.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)

6. Human eye can sense one photon.

Reply to Rex (Reply #2)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:46 PM

Oct 2015

Perhaps some can, similarly, detect or smell a molecule or enzyme. Maybe the sensitive nose has to be acquainted with the minute substance. Close contact could help create a "receptor."

Rex

(65,616 posts)

8. I did not know we as a species could detect matter at that level or odors on that scale.

Reply to Octafish (Reply #6)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:51 PM

Oct 2015

Very fascinating.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)

12. It IS amazing.

Reply to Rex (Reply #8)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 05:44 PM

Oct 2015

The human eye is very sensitive but can we see a single photon? The answer is that the sensors in the retina can respond to a single photon. However, neural filters only allow a signal to pass to the brain to trigger a conscious response when at least about five to nine arrive within less than 100 ms. If we could consciously see single photons we would experience too much visual "noise" in very low light, so this filter is a necessary adaptation, not a weakness...

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Quantum/see_a_photon.html

Rex

(65,616 posts)

13. The quantum world is strange.

Reply to Octafish (Reply #12)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 05:50 PM

Oct 2015

I remember growing up and my grandmother telling me sunbeams are tiny particles that can be seen in a dusty room. She was right, you could really see the sunbeams. Or I guess a better term would be sun particles.

Thor_MN

(11,843 posts)

17. You can see light hitting dust particles...

Reply to Rex (Reply #13)

Sat Oct 24, 2015, 11:27 AM

Oct 2015

Sun particles would not be better term, what one is seeing is illuminated dust.

BadgerKid

(4,549 posts)

15. IMO, it's more like having a mutated receptor

Reply to Octafish (Reply #6)

Sat Oct 24, 2015, 10:06 AM

Oct 2015

that admits a receptor-ligand interaction which causes a signal to be sent to the brain. Such a mutation could be with you since birth or come into being at some point after.

olddots

(10,237 posts)

5. is she going on tour with Uri Geller ?

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:44 PM

Oct 2015

this is open to some skepticism .

Electric Monk

(13,869 posts)

7. If she really can smell it, then scent hounds (like beagles) should be trainable to detect it too

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:48 PM

Oct 2015

This deserves further investigation

Aerows

(39,961 posts)

10. Absolutely agree.

Reply to Electric Monk (Reply #7)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 05:00 PM

Oct 2015

Get some German Shepherds to attend the meetings and they will likely pick it out.

On a side note, a few nurses have told me they can smell a diabetic. They aren't always 100%, but they say they have a smell that makes them test said person immediately.

PatrickforO

(14,558 posts)

11. That would be a hell of a lot cheaper and more efficient than current 'trial and error' tests and

Reply to Electric Monk (Reply #7)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 05:10 PM

Oct 2015

biopsies. Really makes a lot of sense.

The medical community will never go for it though - they wouldn't be able to give us the old 'price gouge.'

Yep. We have to RATION healthcare here in the USA because we don't want no socialized medicine! So instead of a national system that can negotiate costs down, we have a bunch of insurance companies who run in direct conflict of interest with patients. The insurance companies want to collect premiums and not spend anything. The patients want the best care available.

THAT'S why our health care system is screwing us over.

Sorry for the rant. The dogs do make sense and it should be explored further

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)

9. This is fascinating.

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 04:55 PM

Oct 2015

I have heard of dogs who can detect illness in humans by scent. This could really be a groundbreaking discovery in diagnostics.

trof

(54,256 posts)

14. Great Britain med schools teach using sense of smell in diagnosing.

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Fri Oct 23, 2015, 06:03 PM

Oct 2015

A friend who graduated med school in Liverpool in the 60s bears witness.
And she could smell certain types of cancer in patients.
Some dogs can be trained to also.

backscatter712

(26,355 posts)

16. Cancer also seems to have that effect.

Reply to KamaAina (Original post)

Sat Oct 24, 2015, 10:18 AM

Oct 2015

Probably something subtle going on in the biochemistry that generates those odors.

But dogs have literally been trained to sniff for cancer.

I wouldn't be surprised if dogs could also be trained to sniff for Parkinsons.

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