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There are strong links between your sense of smell and your health risk. But new studies suggest that developing technologies to pick up smell may one day be a viable diagnosis tool.

 

 

You probably don’t often think about your sense of smell. It’s just something that tells you when dinner is ready or when food has gone bad. But the reality is, changes in your sense of small can indicate certain conditions and diseases. And recent research indicates that your sense of smell may even be able to detect certain health problems. This is important because it could indicate a possible direction for health diagnosis technologies. To learn more about the importance of your sense of smell, keep reading.

 

An Early Warning Sign

Your sense of smell may be more important than you realize. Certain diseases can cause changes in the way things smell or in the sensitivity of the olfactory sense. This makes it important for you to monitor this health risk factor for any changes. But recent evidence suggests that your sense of smell may be even more important than you think.

 

There is some evidence that healthy people can detect smells that indicate when someone is sick. A study performed on mice to examine behavioral changes prompted by smell showed obvious changes. Mice that were exposed to the smell of sick animals showed avoidance behavior and inhibited social behavior. This is perhaps an instinctive response to avoid infection and it’s one that makes sense. So if you’re living with someone and detect this smell, you may automatically avoid them or start preparing for them to get sick in other ways. This suggests how deeply your sense of smell is linked to your survival instincts. And it also suggests the feasibility of using smell as a diagnostic tool.

 

The Problem with the Sense of Smell

The trouble with using the sense of smell to detect or diagnose disease has to do with human physiology. The human olfactory sense just isn’t strong or sensitive enough to be useful in determining health. Other animals such as cats and dogs have a much stronger sense of smell. And work is already underway to determine how that fact might be helpful in the medical field. Obviously, any advances in the way we use the sense of smell would have to involve technology that is much more sensitive than human senses. And this technology may have to do with olfactory cells.

 

Olfactory Cells and the Future of Diagnosis

The true nature of olfactory cells is just starting to become clear. These are the cells found in the nose and once thought to be solely involved with the sense of smell. But research indicates that this is far from the truth. And the new information raises some interesting possibilities for future medical investigation. Olfactory cells work because of specialized chemical-sniffing proteins. This allows them to sense odor, but that is far from their only role. In fact, these cells can cause cell division, move, and release chemical messengers. And they’re found in the testis, heart, lungs, blood, intestines and skin as well as in the nose. These characteristics suggest that olfactory cells could be an important tool in the future of health and wellness.

 

This may also offer medical researchers a hint about cancer diagnosis and treatment. A new study has found a specific type of olfactory receptors that exist only in cancer cells. In the very near future, doctors may be able to identify and use these cells as a way to diagnose cancer. These cells may also be markers of tumor progression or a way to treat tumors that can be reached with odorants.

 

The future of this field is promising for both diagnosis and treatment. That’s why it’s important that researchers keep investigating the role of your sense of smell in medicine.

 

The Takeaway

These revelations about the importance of smell could have important implications for diagnoses. There may come a day when odor sensors are advanced enough to detect certain diseases. At the moment that’s still in the future, but that doesn’t mean that your sense of smell is unimportant. It’s still an easily monitored health risk factor. So if you notice changes with it then you need to report them to your doctor.

 

 

If you are at higher risk of heart disease, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.

 

Tags: sense of smell, olfactory, health risk, diagnosis