Parkinson’s disease, smoking, certain head injuries and even normal aging can influence our sense of smell. But certain patterns of loss in the ability to identify odors seem pronounced in Alzheimer’s, researchers say.

“Two studies released at an international Alzheimer’s meeting Tuesday suggest doctors may eventually be able to screen people for this form of dementia by testing the ability to identify familiar odors, like smoke, coffee and raspberry…”

Read more at: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/26/487391863/a-sniff-test-for-alzheimers-checks-for-the-ability-to-identify-odors