People with Alzheimer's disease appears to have a distinctive smell that can be detected through urine, according to a recent research. Now, researchers are hoping that the findings can provide enlightenment on how to identify people who are at risk of the said disease before it starts damaging their brain.
The study, which was published in Scientific Reports, said that a group of researchers was able to detect differences between the smell of urine from the "normal mice" and the "three altered mice" that genetically modified to mimic Alzheimer's in human. Thereafter, the team believes that the discovery could help the experts to diagnose certain "neurodegenerative diseases" at the early stage and eventually treat them.
The scientists believe that identifying patients at the early age is very vital. This would be a way to potentially treat affected individuals at an early stage, which are then more likely effective, compared to people who are suffering the illness for a longer time.
Talking about their theory, the group said that the genetically modified mice had a smell on their urine and it's similar to those individuals with Alzheimer's. The experts also believe that those changes in the urine among the subjects indicate a genetic cause.
However, as of the moment researchers admitted that they needed to carry out the research on humans to identify the changes caused by the said disease, but still, they are hopeful that this early finding could lead them the way.
"While this research is at the proof-of-concept stage, the identification of distinctive odor signatures may someday point the way to human biomarkers to identify Alzheimer's at early stages," said Dr. Daniel Wesson, a neuroscientist at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
However, Mail Online included on its report that although the research was interesting, Director of Research at Alzheimer's Society Dr. Doug Brown said that it's actually too early to say that the approach is a "valid way to diagnose the condition" as the "altered mice do not fully replicate several of the important changes seen in the brains of people with dementia."
