Mortality Risk in Older Adults: What the Nose Knows
Authors: Vidyulata Kamath, Bruce Leff
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Editorials21 May 2019Mortality Risk in Older Adults: What the Nose KnowsVidyulata Kamath, PhD and Bruce Leff, MDVidyulata Kamath, PhDThe Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (V.K.) and Bruce Leff, MDThe Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland (B.L.)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M19-1013 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The human olfactory system is among the oldest limbic structures and has a critical yet underappreciated role in health and behavior. The sense of smell facilitates detection and identification of spoiled food and volatile environmental hazards, influences healthy grooming and personal hygiene, and affects nutritional status through its impact on appetite and feeding behavior. Olfactory regions have reciprocal connections to key brain regions that subserve memory, emotion, and satiety signaling. The olfactory nerve is the only cranial nerve that is directly exposed to the environment, and it is vulnerable to disruption by conditions that contribute to mortality, including medical illness, ...References1. Wilson RS, Yu L, Bennett DA. Odor identification and mortality in old age. Chem Senses. 2011;36:63-7. [PMID: 20923931] doi:10.1093/chemse/bjq098 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Pinto JM, Wroblewski KE, Kern DW, Schumm LP, McClintock MK. Olfactory dysfunction predicts 5-year mortality in older adults. PLoS One. 2014;9:e107541. [PMID: 25271633] doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107541 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Gopinath B, Sue CM, Kifley A, Mitchell P. The association between olfactory impairment and total mortality in older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2012;67:204-9. [PMID: 22080501] doi:10.1093/gerona/glr165 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. 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[PMID: 28039314] doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000003558 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland (V.K.)The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland (B.L.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M19-1013.Corresponding Author: Vidyulata Kamath, PhD, Division of Medical Psychology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Meyer 218, Baltimore, MD 21287; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Kamath: Division of Medical Psychology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Meyer 218, Baltimore, MD 21287.Dr. Leff: Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5200 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224.This article was published at Annals.org on 30 April 2019. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoRelationship Between Poor Olfaction and Mortality Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults Bojing Liu , Zhehui Luo , Jayant M. Pinto , Eric J. Shiroma , Gregory J. Tranah , Karin Wirdefeldt , Fang Fang , Tamara B. Harris , and Honglei Chen Metrics Cited byPhysiology of AgingPhysiology of Aging 21 May 2019Volume 170, Issue 10Page: 722-723KeywordsAgingCohort studiesDementiaElderlyLongitudinal studiesMortalityNeurodegenerative diseasesParkinson diseaseSmellWeight loss ePublished: 30 April 2019 Issue Published: 21 May 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...