A UCC research team is involved in a new study into how a simple test involving the sense of smell can be used for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
The research conducted by Dr Robert Elsner and a team from the departments of nutritional sciences and applied psychology, has received £100,000 in funding from the Higher Education Authority,
The smell test was developed by the Consortium to Establish A Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), a world-wide association of universities and corporations dedicated to finding ways in which the disease can be alleviated.
Some years ago it was discovered that one of the first places in the nervous system to be affected by Alzheimer's was the olfactory bulb, which is the seat of our sense of smell. According to Dr Elsner, the smell test is a particularly simple one to conduct and lasts for no more than 40 minutes.
CERAD has developed a battery of tests which are between 40 and 60 per cent accurate in diagnosing Alzeimer's disease, but using the special smell test the results are almost 98 per cent effective. Dr Ezner said that early diagnosis of Alzeimer's disease meant that medicines such as Aricept were more effective in diagnosing and delaying the onset of the disease.