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.
...
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.
Ask your doctor if they know about the peanut butter test.
I predict there will be an ad campaign about which peanut butter works best.
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4 comments:
Very interesting. The olfactory bulb must be connected to parts of the brain that deteriorate early in Alzheimer's disease.
What if your left nostril is blocked with allergies? Does that count? I'm like you...there will be an ad campaign for peanut butter, like which has the best aroma for people to smell?
It sounds like a great, simple to do test.
That is so clever. I wonder if it works with Nutella or almond butter?
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