Post 5: Senses and Stuff

Hey guys! This week I read an article about the connection between certain diseases and their odor. It was kind of gross honestly, but also really cool! For example, scrofula is associated with the smell of stale beer, typhoid fever with baked bread, yellow fever with a butcher's shop, diptheria with a sweet scent, diabetic ketosis with decomposing apples, and hyperaminoaciduria with dried malt/hops. It mentioned how doctors in the early days started sniffing their patients to diagnose them with certain diseases. Animals were also able to detect disease in humans, and in one study, rodents were able to avoid sick individuals through odor detection alone, and dogs were able to detect cancer in humans through scent! Also, the literal sense of smell could also play a part in diagnosis of dementia and Parkinson's disease. An impaired sense of smell is one of the early signs of both diseases, and it affects their ability to identify and recognize odors. I thought this was super interesting, especially how people in the olden days used this method of diagnosing disease very often. I also think that certain animals' heightened sense of smell could be used to our advantage in early disease diagnosis, and this should be known to more people!



Here's a link to the full article!
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319615.php