A remarkable
feature article from
Chemistry World about a retired nurse who can tell by smell which people have Parkinson’s disease. In a controlled blind trial, she got them all right. Including one from the people the scientists had as controls. Who went on to be diagnosed with the disease. To quote the nurse:
‘Well, they thought I’d incorrectly identified it, but I knew I hadn’t,’ says Milne. ‘I even stood my ground in that room saying “Oh well, we’ll see.”’
She was right. Smell is now being seriously investigated as a diagnostic technique.