In most cases, Alzheimer's disease can be diagnosed
through a series of laboratory and invasive tests in order to rule out other
possible diseases that affects a suspected patient. However, a new study
revealed that they have come up with a urine test that can determine whether a
person is experiencing the early signs of Alzheimer's through its smell.
A team of researchers from various health organizations
and universities in the U.S has conducted a study in order to figure out if a
person is already in the early stages of the illness. For their study, which
has been published in a journal called Scientific Reports, the scientists
studied three lab rats whose brains were genetically altered to mimic both
brain and behavioral changes that were usually found in Alzheimer's patients.
After doing a series of analysis, the researchers were
able to figure out that the three rats produced different urine odors that were
very distinct from those who were not part of the experiment. The difference of
smell might be attributed to the fact that there is a buildup on amyloid plaque,
which has been previously linked to Alzheimer's disease.
In one of the recent statements released by Dr. Bruce
Kimball, a chemical ecologist with the US Department of Agriculture's National
Wildlife Research Centre, previous researches have shown that changes can occur
due to the viruses or vaccines injected on a person. However, their newest
study was able to highlight that the smell of the urine can now be altered by
changes in the brain characteristic caused by Alzheimer's.
Previous research from the USDA and Monell has focused on
body odor changes due to exogenous sources such as viruses or vaccines. Now we
have evidence that urinary odor signatures can be altered by changes in the
brain characteristic of Alzheimer's disease," said Bruce Kimball.
"This finding may also have implications for other neurologic
diseases."
Dr. Daniel Wesson, a neuroscientist at the Case Western
Reserve University School of Medicine in the US, stated that since the research
was able to prove a concept, the process of identifying odor changes can
someday be the way of detecting whether someone is at the onset of Alzheimer's
disease or not.
Alzheimer's is said to affect 5.1 million Americans aged
over 65 years. In the absence of a cure, an early diagnosis can help patients
and families plan for the future as the disease progresses.
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