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These authors assessed whether difficulty in identifying odors in old age relates to accumulation of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology. In a prospective study of more than 1000 people living in retirement homes and senior housing facilities, baseline tests included a 12-odor Brief Smell Test and dementia screening. There were 166 deaths (average age, 87.5), occurring a mean of 2.2 years after baseline; of these, 129 autopsies were conducted. At autopsy, silver stains were used to identify plaque and tangle pathology, and immunohistochemistry to measure amyloid-β burden, tangle density, and Lewy bodies.
Poor performance on odor identification testing correlated with measures of plaques and tangles when adjusted for age, sex, and education. Thi…