article on loss of sense of smell and PD

[quirkyme]

not having a sense of smell is not a diagnostic criteria.

from neurologynow.com

journals.lww.com/neurologyn...

[soup]

Not diagnostic but is very often a preceding event. It is currently amongst the battery of tests being evaluated in the Tracking Parkinson's project in Glasgow and throughout the UK to pinpoint more reliable, early indicators and biomarkers in Parkinson's.

[isis6361]

This is a common non motor symptom that occurs often five to ten years prior to the diagnosis of iPd. Not every one experiences this but this with micrographia and constipation are symptoms that bring people to a movement disorder clinic. Some then go onto to develop a reduced sense of taste later on as the condition progresses depending on what type of iPd they have

[marmaduke123]

Thank you quirkyme for that piece of information and for the neurologist in question. Will someone explain to me however why many pd patients have this symptom. Surely it has to be relevant to the illness. Or are they trying to tell us

(a) something else is causing these universal symptoms that pd patients experience

(B) we're all making it up

I've suddenly got quite angry with it all. I wish they'd make up there minds as to what is and what isn't....I feel like one of those rats going round the wheel getting no where

[raveneaux]

I noticed a change/loss in smell after my PD diagnosis, which was approximately 8 months ago. In am in the US and treated by a Movement Disorders Specialist.

[afflyerman]

I also have loss of smell. In fact, I can't smell a dead skunk! My loss of smell preceded my diagnosis by at least 5 years. I accepted the loss of smell do to my 40 year smoking habit. when I quite smoking, I expected the sense to return, It has not. I was told by my neurologist that it goes along with PD illness.

[quirkyme]

Thanks for the reply. My husband has said all our married life, "I can't smell anything." (But he could smell a dead skunk!) He's also somewhat color blind.

[Dennis]

I had a nice post and it vanished from my screen. So I shall make this brief. I too had lost my

to smell ie flowers, trees, food My ability to amell was gone so long that I had almost gotten use

to it. My wife and I took a vacaton to Hawaii andt it was there on the road to Hanna that my

sense of smell returned out of nowhere. I wish Parkinson's would do the same for all of us.

~~~Dennis

[quirkyme]

Dennis, sorry you lost your original post (so annoying) but thanks for persevering. Fascinating story of getting your sense of smell back! I'll have to get him to stand where our neighbor's honeysuckle is blooming.

[PatrickW]

I have lost most of my ability to smell and taste. My jacket got covered in gas one day and never knew it until my daughter came over! Loss of smell would have killed me had I had not given up smoking 6 years ago.