BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Think you can smell the difference between: a) dill pickle, b) grass, c) smoke or d) peach?
Because losing your sense of smell might be a risk factor for developing Parkinson's disease, the backers of a worldwide study are sending out thousands of scratch-and-sniff booklets in order to narrow down a group of study participants.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is one of the sites involved in the study sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Currently there is no cure for Parkinson's, but the study, by identifying patients with the disease earlier, is a big step toward that cure, said Dr. David Standaert, professor and chair of the UAB Department of Neurology.
Standaert said Parkinson's disease is related to the degeneration of dopamine in the brain. Symptoms of Parkinson's -- tremors, stiffness, loss of coordination, and difficulty walking -- occur when the dopamine has degenerated to about 30 percent of normal, Standaert said. But the process of degeneration from 100 percent to 30 percent may take as long as 10 years, he said.
So there are untold numbers of individuals out there who are headed toward Parkinson's without any major symptoms, he said. Except, perhaps, a loss of smell or hyposmia which is where the scratch-and-sniff tests come in.
If scientists can find people before the symptoms and stop those symptoms, then in essence, the disease is cured, he said. "No symptoms, no disease."
There are an estimated 1 million to 1.5 million people with the disease and that number is expected to double over the next 20 years as Baby Boomers age, Standaert said.
It should be noted that not everyone with a loss of smell actually has the makings of Parkinson's disease, Standaert said. In fact, researchers figure about two-thirds of those identified with the acute loss of smell will have normal dopamine levels.
To participate in the study, you must be over 60 and have not been diagnosed with the disease. You can contact Stephanie Guthrie at email@example.com, or you can go directly to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for the survey here: www.michaeljfox.org/get-involved/smellsurvey-screen.php.
If you qualify, you will receive a study packet within the next several weeks delivered by mail. It will contain the scratch-and-sniff booklet and its odd odor assortment ranging from turpentine to root beer.