Relationship Between Poor Olfaction and Mortality
Authors: Bojing Liu, Zhehui Luo, Honglei Chen
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2019)

Letters1 October 2019Relationship Between Poor Olfaction and MortalityBojing Liu, PhD, Zhehui Luo, PhD, and Honglei Chen, MD, PhDBojing Liu, PhDKarolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden (B.L.)Search for more papers by this author, Zhehui Luo, PhDMichigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (Z.L., H.C.)Search for more papers by this author, and Honglei Chen, MD, PhDMichigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (Z.L., H.C.)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L19-0468 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We agree that the scientific community needs a better understanding of the causes of poor sense of smell among older adults given the increasingly recognized health implications of this phenomenon. To date, we know little about potential causes for age-related loss of the sense of smell among older adults beyond aging itself and possibly some underlying neurodegenerative processes (such as Parkinson disease and certain types of dementia). They speculate that airborne lead exposure decades ago may have contributed to olfactory impairment in older adults. Although we are not aware of much direct empirical evidence supporting this connection, recent ...References1. Adams DR, Ajmani GS, Pun VC, et al. Nitrogen dioxide pollution exposure is associated with olfactory dysfunction in older U.S. adults. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2016;6:1245-52. [PMID: 27620703] doi:10.1002/alr.21829 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Ajmani GS, Suh HH, Wroblewski KE, et al. Fine particulate matter exposure and olfactory dysfunction among urban-dwelling older US adults. Environ Res. 2016;151:797-803. [PMID: 27692900] doi:10.1016/j.envres.2016.09.012 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Gu H, Wei X, Monnot AD, et al. Lead exposure increases levels of ß-amyloid in the brain and CSF and inhibits LRP1 expression in APP transgenic mice. Neurosci Lett. 2011;490:16-20. [PMID: 21167913] doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2010.12.017 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Christen-Zaech S, Kraftsik R, Pillevuit O, et al. Early olfactory involvement in Alzheimer's disease. Can J Neurol Sci. 2003;30:20-5. [PMID: 12619779] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Solenkova NV, Newman JD, Berger JS, et al. Metal pollutants and cardiovascular disease: mechanisms and consequences of exposure. Am Heart J. 2014;168:812-22. [PMID: 25458643] doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2014.07.007 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden (B.L.)Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (Z.L., H.C.)Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-0775. 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 Relationship Between Poor Olfaction and Mortality Esme R. Fuller-Thomson and Elysia G. Fuller-Thomson Metrics 1 October 2019Volume 171, Issue 7Page: 526KeywordsBrainDementiaDisclosureElderlyEpidemiologyMortalityNeurodegenerative diseasesParkinson diseaseParticulatesSmell ePublished: 1 October 2019 Issue Published: 1 October 2019 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2019 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...