About a month ago I read that one of the early warnings of Alzheimer's was loss of smell. I mentally filed that away,then a few days ago I heard a similar finding involving peanut butter and a ruler being used to confirm early Alzheimer's diagnosis. The way the test is performed is simple,about a tablespoon of peanut better is held next to a ruler while the patient closes their eyes and mouth and blocks one nostril. The peanut butter is held next to the open nostril and gradually moved up the ruler 1 cm at a time until the patient can detect the odor,then the distance is recorded. After a 1 1/2 minute delay the procedure is repeated with the other nostril. In the early stages of Alzheimer's there is a dramatic difference in the ability to detect odor between the left and right nostril. The left nostril is impaired and doesn't detect the smell until it was much closer to the nose than when the right nostril was able to detect it. If you are asking why that would be,the answer is one of the first places in the brain to degenerate with Alzheimer's is the front part of the temporal lobe that evolved from the brain's smell system. Maybe some of you will find this information useful and it may enable you to get a loved one early treatment.
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