Scientists have found a link between how people smell and their risk of developing pneumonia. The study is published in the Lancet Healthy Longevity.
SMELL AND HEALTH
Loss of smell has become a hot topic during the COVID-19 pandemic: it has proven to be one of the specific symptoms of the infection that can persist for many months. At the same time, impaired sense of smell has always been a significant medical problem. It is well known that it often occurs in the elderly.
Poor sense of smell is often associated with the risk of death and neurodegenerative diseases (dementia, Parkinson’s disease). These two diseases are responsible for 22% of excess mortality among older people with poor sense of smell. However, approximately 70% of early deaths in this group of people remain unexplained.
WEAK SMELL AS A RISK FACTOR FOR PNEUMONIA
In a new study, the researchers set out to test the hypothesis of whether a poor sense of smell is a risk factor for developing pneumonia. Potentially, this relationship can be explained by the fact that the nasal mucosa is very important for protection once morest infections. Loss of smell can be a marker of damage not only to olfactory receptors, but also to the mucosa as a whole.
“About a quarter of people over 65 complain of a poor sense of smell. Unlike visual and hearing impairments, this problem is often ignored. More than two-thirds of people with a poor sense of smell don’t even realize it,” said Honglei Chen, professor at Michigan State University and co-author of the new study.
Scientists analyzed data from a 13-year follow-up of 2,500 people aged 71-82. At the beginning of the study, all of them underwent a test for the sharpness of smell, in which they use common smells – lemon, gasoline, and others. Next, the authors monitored how often study participants were hospitalized for pneumonia.
It turned out that people with a weak sense of smell are hospitalized with pneumonia 50% more often than those who have a good sense of smell. People in this group who had not previously had pneumonia had a 40% higher risk of getting sick for the first time.
Scientists note that, apparently, this is the first study demonstrating a link between poor sense of smell and pneumonia.
“This is just one example of how much we don’t know regarding a common disorder,” Chen was quoted as saying by Medportal.
