Inside the Connection Between Loss of Smell and Brain Health

The loss is subtle.

A senior living resident has a full sense of smell, and then one day, that capability is dulled. They can’t totally explain it. Their food tastes… off. While tasting food is a concern on its own, as you never want to discount a resident’s quality of life, the resident — and their senior living operator — may want to look as well at a larger potential issue from taste loss.

That’s because taste loss ties to smell loss, and 100% of major brain disorders are associated with smell loss, including Parkinson’s, a disease that can disrupt a resident’s life in significant ways and potentially land them in a higher level of care or even a hospital stay. The disease leads to tremor, slowness and stiffness of movement, mood changes and sleep disorders. 

With more than one million people in the U.S. estimated to be living with Parkinson’s, it is the second most common brain disease after Alzheimer’s.

And it’s often undetected until symptoms are advanced.

“I think that people of a certain age naturally think, ‘What’s going to happen to me? Will I too have a condition that challenges my movement or memory?’” says Maggie Kuhl, Vice President Research Engagement for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. “Scientists are urgently trying to help people answer that question themselves, with their families and their doctors, and to develop interventions and strategies to prevent those brain diseases.”

To that end, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is working to help senior living operators work with residents to identify smell loss sooner. It’s happening today through an MJFF-led study, using an incredibly simple strategy: scratch-and-sniff tests.

Here is a look at how operators can participate in this new study and help their residents find help for a common, yet often hidden, disease.

Your residents might not realize they are losing their sense of smell

The scratch-and-sniff study from MJFF is very simple. Seniors aged 60 and older go to mysmelltest.org/SHN to start the process by answering initial questions to learn whether they are right for the study. The catch is that residents may not even realize they are losing their smell.

One in two people over the age of 60 are living with smell loss, yet 70% of people don’t know until they are tested. That’s because it happens slowly over time, with seniors often noticing a failure in their taste first.

“Smell is not a binary, yes-or-no test, and many people who present with smell loss first express a loss of taste,” Kuhl says. “Because the odor receptors and taste receptors are so closely linked, people may go to their doctor and say, ‘I’m not able to enjoy my food anymore, things are tasting bland.’ And it’s actually because they’ve lost their sense of smell.”

Interestingly, while science has not connected loss of smell from COVID-19 and brain disease, the national conversation around smell loss as a result of COVID-19 has created a new willingness to explore smell loss.

“I think it has positioned smell loss in the conversation in a way that opens the door to more awareness on enduring smell loss and the link to brain disease risk,” she says.

Smell loss is an early indicator of brain disease

The scratch-and-sniff test is as fun and easy as it is essential, but one thing should be made clear: while 100% of major brain disorders are associated with smell loss, smell loss does not always mean a brain disorder, Kuhl says.

Instead, it provides a key warning sign that a resident should more closely monitor their sense of smell and taste.

“I don’t want to give the indication that if a person has smell loss they will absolutely get a disease, but it’s certainly a flag to be more closely monitoring and to look for more warning signs to understand one’s prognosis and trajectory,” she says.

That’s one of the reasons that MJFF is doing this study, Kuhl notes. They want to help residents, their families, their doctors and their operators better understand the connection between smell loss and brain disease risk.

“I would encourage those interested in participating to help us learn more about all of these factors,” she says.

Use a scratch-and-sniff test to detect smell loss

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is seeking senior housing operators to participate in the study, because they can help communicate the study’s value to residents.

You might remember the simple scratch-and-sniff stickers from as far back as the 1980s, when they became a well-known school-age pleasantry. The senior who participates in the study uses them the same way: answer a few questions to determine relevance to the study, and then receive the tests in the mail from MJFF.

“It’s a piece of nostalgia,” Kuhl says. “And frankly, residents find it a bit fun.”

The residents receive 40 scratch-and-sniff papers and questions related to each item. Can you smell chocolate? Can you smell mint? Can you smell pizza? They enter their answers and then may be eligible for additional screening based on their results.

“I think just the act of taking the test — of sitting down and giving this your attention — is a way for people to understand where they might fall,” Kuhl says.

The Foundation can also provide additional information for residents and operators that can be part of a wellness session or delivered as a community newsletter. They are looking for operators to help them spread the word about the study so that they can continue bringing resources and information to fight the disease.

“I think science is happening really fast. We’re learning a lot about the disease and how to stop it, and we’re really at an inflection point where we can apply a lot of those learnings to not only treat the disease, but to prevent it,” Kuhl says. “So it’s really crucial to have those partnerships. People are a resource that we can’t fill with funding campaigns. We see people who join us in studies as partners and collaborators in our mission, and we’re really grateful for anyone who raises their hand to help, because we think we can do a lot.

“But we do have to do it together.”

This article is sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation. To learn more about becoming a Michael J. Fox Foundation Senior Living Community Partner, visit us at www.michaeljfox.org/seniorliving.

The post Inside the Connection Between Loss of Smell and Brain Health appeared first on Senior Housing News.

Source: For the full article please visit Senior Housing News