America
Reduced smelling ability precursor to early death: Study
New York, June 3
People who are unable to
smell certain odours as they grow old may be at an increased risk of
death, a renowned Indian-American researcher has revealed.
According
to Davangere Devanand, director of the division of geriatric psychiatry
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, those
with a reduced ability to identify certain odours had an increased risk
of dying during an average follow-up of four years.
The mortality
rate was 45 percent in participants with the lowest scores on a 40-item
smell test, compared with 18 percent of participants with the highest
scores.
The study included 1,169 Medicare beneficiaries who
scratched and sniffed individuals odorant strips and chose the best
answer from four items listed as multiple-choice.
"The increased
risk of death increased progressively with worse performance in the
smell identification test and was highest in those with the worst
smelling ability, even after adjusting for medical burden and dementia,"
said Devanand, who completed medical school at Christian Medical
College in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
This was a study of older adults.
"The
question that remains is whether young to middle-aged adults with
impaired smell identification ability are at high risk as they grow
older," said Devanand, who completed psychiatry residency training at
NIMHANS, Bengaluru.
After completing a clinical research fellowship at Columbia University, he has remained on its faculty since 1987.
His
research has helped to define the clinical features and treatment
response in elderly patients with dysthymic disorder, a chronic
depressive illness.
He pioneered studies on the interface between
depression and cognitive impairment in the elderly, and is well-known
for his research into early diagnostic markers of Alzheimer's disease
and the treatment of psychosis and agitation in this disorder.
Devanand is also the recipient of the American Psychiatric Association's Jack Weinberg Memorial Award in Geriatric Psychiatry.
He has over 240 research publications and has written three books, including "The Memory Program".
The study appeared in the journal Annals of Neurology.