Scientists close to finding out what causes Parkinson's disease smell

PanARMENIAN.Net - Scientists are close to establishing what causes a smell associated with sufferers of Parkinson's disease, BBC says.

They hope it could lead to the first diagnostic test for the disease.

The breakthrough came after Joy Milne astonished doctors with her ability to detect the disease through smell under scientific conditions.

A team from Manchester has found distinctive molecules that seem to be concentrated on the skin of Parkinson's patients.

One in 500 people in the UK has Parkinson's - that is 127,000 across Britain.

It can leave them struggling to walk, speak and sleep.

Currently there is no definitive test for the disease, with clinicians diagnosing patients by observing symptoms.

This is how the disease has been diagnosed since 1817, when James Parkinson first established it as a recognised medical condition.

However, that could change because of Joy Milne from Perth, whose husband Les was told he had Parkinson's at the age of 45.

About a decade before her consultant anaesthetist husband was diagnosed, Joy noticed she could detect an unusual musky smell.

Joy said: "We had a very tumultuous period, when he was about 34 or 35, where I kept saying to him, 'you've not showered. You've not brushed your teeth properly'.

"It was a new smell - I didn't know what it was. I kept on saying to him, and he became quite upset about it. So I just had to be quiet."

The retired nurse only linked the odour to the disease after meeting people with the same distinctive smell at a Parkinson's UK support group.

She told scientists at a conference, and subsequent tests carried out by Edinburgh University's Dr Tilo Kunath confirmed her ability.