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People with Parkinson’s disease have distinct chemical differences in the oil they secrete through their skin compared with healthy people, researchers report today (March 20) in ACS Central Science. Scientists made the finding with help from a former nurse with a keen sense of smell who noticed a musky odor on her husband a decade before he was diagnosed with the disease.
Coauthor Perdita Barran of the University of Manchester in the UK tells The Guardian that the finding could lead to a test to diagnose people with Parkinson’s earlier than is now possible. “Being able to say categorically, and early on, that a person has Parkinson’s disease would be very useful,” she says.
The Guardian notes that a woman named Joy Milne noticed a musky odor on her husband long before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, although she didn’t make the connection until she ...
