The likelihood of experiencing depression later in one’s life is associated with a diminished sense of smell, according to significant new research. The syndrome was previously linked to Alzheimer’s disease in older people and is known as hyposmia or, at its most severe, anosmia.
“We have consistently observed that an impaired sense of smell can be a mortality risk and an early warning indicator of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The relationship between it and depressive symptoms is highlighted by this study, according to Vidya Kamath, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Study findings were published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences. In addition, she added in a university news release, “This study analyzes factors that could impact the connection between smell and depression, particularly poor cognition and inflammation.”
Using information from the Health, Aging, and Body Structure Study (Health ABC), researchers monitored over 2,100 community-dwelling senior citizens for eight years. When the research started in 1997, these older adults were healthy and between the ages of 70 and 73. They generally had no trouble carrying out daily tasks, including walking half a mile and climbing ten stairs. Every year and every six months, the participants underwent in-person and telephone evaluations.
During the follow-up period, almost 25% of patients experienced significant depression symptoms. The researchers discovered that people who had lost their sense of smell significantly or significantly less were likelier to have severe depressive symptoms. The study’s researchers also found three depressive symptom trajectories. The subjects’ depressive symptoms were constantly low, moderate, and high.
It was shown that participants were more likely to fall into the medium or high depression symptom categories if they had a worse perception of smell, suggesting that possessing a worse sensation of smell was linked to more severe depressive symptoms.
Losing the sense of smell affects many facets of your health and behavior, including your ability to detect damaged food or offensive odors and how much you enjoy your meals. We can now see that it might serve as a significant vulnerability indicator of a health issue, Kamath said. This study demonstrates that smell may serve as an indicator of late-life sadness. The smell is a vital way to interact with the environment around us.
Olfactory neurons in the nose are responsible for a person’s ability to smell. These have a single odor receptor that detects chemicals generated by drugs and transmits those signals to the brain. Scientists believe the brain’s olfactory bulb interacts intimately with the amygdala, hippocampus, and other brain regions that control and facilitate memory, decision-making, emotional reactions, and processing processes.
According to the authors, olfaction and sadness may be connected via biological and behavioral pathways, such as decreased serotonin levels and diminished social function. They intend to continue researching this with other senior citizen groups. Among the topics they are interested in is whether or not depressed people have altered olfactory bulbs. The team also intends to consider using smell as a late-life depression treatment.
