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P4‐323: Olfaction as a Risk Factor for Dementia, Mortality, and Stroke
Author(s) -
Knight Jamie,
Piccinin Andrea
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2016.07.067
Subject(s) - dementia , stroke (engine) , hazard ratio , medicine , olfaction , olfactory system , risk factor , disease , psychology , confidence interval , neuroscience , psychiatry , mechanical engineering , engineering
Background:Markers are needed for accurate early diagnosis of dementia and stroke risk in order to support treatment early in the disease trajectory. Olfactory testing is gaining attention as a potential biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) due to the location of early AD pathology in the entorhinal cortex and other areas of the brain that affect smell and memory (Devanand et al., 2015; Wilson et al., 2009). However, there is currently very limited information on olfactory decline preceding stroke. Methods: In this study, proportional hazards models were used to test the relationship between olfactory score (BSIT) and the risk of dementia, all-cause mortality, and stroke using BSIT scores from a sample of 471 (76.2%women) individuals free of disease at baseline and controlling for age, sex, race, education, and apolipoprotein E (apoE) allele. The olfactory test, administered at each wave of data collection, is a 12 item test where a score of 11 or 12 indicates normal olfactory ability. Results:Preliminary results show that low olfactory scores are related to an increased risk of dementia, stroke and death. For every additional point correctly identified on an olfactory test the risk of being diagnosed with dementia decreased by 15% (hazard ratio 1⁄4 0.849, 95% CI: 0.836, 0.861). Similarly, with every additional point the risk of stroke decreased by 8.7% (hazard ratio1⁄4 0.913, 95% CI: 0.877, 0.951) and risk of death decreased by 3.9% (hazard ratio1⁄4 0.961, 95% CI: 0.945, 0.976). Conclusions: These findings suggest that a simple and relatively inexpensive olfactory test may have clinical utility in identifying serious impending health issues such as stroke and dementia, potentially leading to early detection and preventative treatments. These results also have implications for understanding the link between stroke and dementia as well as the olfactory pathway and its relationship to these diseases. References: 1. Devanand, D.P., et al. (2015). Olfactory deficits predict cognitive decline and alzheimer dementia in an urban community. Neurology, 84(2), 182-189. 2. Wilson, R.S. et al. (2009). Olfactory impairment in Presymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1170(1), 730-735.