Joy Milne stumbled upon her gift when her husband returned home one day with a peculiar scent. Even after he showered, Joy could still detect the distinct odor, which grew stronger over the years. Unbeknownst to them, her husband had been silently battling Parkinson's all along. It was during a Parkinson's support group meeting that Joy was hit with that very same smell she had identified years ago on her husband.
Now, Joy collaborates with medical researchers to explore innovative methods for early Parkinson's detection. Thanks to her remarkable ability to smell the disease, she can sometimes identify the onset of Parkinson's several decades in advance. This early detection empowers patients to access a range of diverse treatments, enhancing their ability to combat the disease.
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From NPR:
Joy and her super smelling abilities have opened up a whole new realm of research, Kunath says. Researchers, including Perdita Barran at the University of Manchester, led a second, larger study and have recently found 10 compounds linked to Parkinson's by using mass spectrometry and other techniques to analyze samples from 274 people. They're hoping to find a way to diagnose Parkinson's from skin-based biomarkers, according to Barran. More work is soon to come, she adds.
That's the ultimate goal, Kunath says: to develop a new tool to detect Parkinson's early. "We really want to know what is behind this and what are the molecules. And then can the molecules be used as some sort of diagnostic test?"
Parkinson's begins slowly, taking years or maybe even decades before symptoms such as tremors appear, Kunath says. "Imagine a society where you could detect such a devastating condition before it's causing problems and then prevent the problems from even occurring," he adds. Combined with potential therapies to prevent or mitigate Parkinson's, a molecular test that identified Parkinson's would be a powerful tool.
There's some evidence — and history — around the idea of scent signaling the presence of a disease, says Richard Doty, the director of the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "It used to be that physicians did use breath odor and other odors to signify certain disorders. But that's not really invoked presently, because we have so much better ways of [diagnosing] things." He also says that smell is an imperfect biomarker because confounding factors could influence people's odors, such as diet and age.
Who would have thought that Parkinson's and other brain degenerative diseases possess a distinctive smell?
It's truly astounding that Joy was able to uncover this exceptional talent of hers. One can't help but wonder if she had never met her husband, would she have ever stumbled upon this ability?
Moreover, one can't help but ponder how many individuals out there possess this same ability but remain entirely oblivious to it.
