Being unable to smell bacon frying may be far more dire than simply missing out on one of life’s pleasures. In older adults, it could be a predictor of increased risk of death within five years.

In a study of more than 3,000 people aged 57 to 85, 39 percent of subjects who failed a simple smelling test died within five years, according to results published on Wednesday in the science journal PLOS ONE.

That compared with a 19 percent death rate within five years for those with moderate smell loss and 10 percent for those deemed to have a healthy sense of smell.

“Compared to a person with a normal sense of smell, a person with an absent sense of smell has three times greater risk of dying within a five-year span,” Dr. Jayant Pinto, the study’s lead author, said in a telephone interview.

“What this tells us is your sense of smell is a great indicator of your overall health,” said Pinto, an associate professor at the University of Chicago who specializes in genetics and treatment of olfactory and sinus disease.

Reference:
http://med.news.am/eng/news/3497/loss-of-smell-may-be-predictor-of-death-in-elderly.html