5 ms·

Odor biomarker for Alzheimer's disease

57 points by davidst 11y ago

ergothus 11y ago
Reminds me of this, regarding a woman who (allegedly) can smell Parkinson's: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/301485.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/301485.php While I know of no reason to dismiss these out of hand, I'd also be more comfortable seeing them discussed in more depth. Can anyone with actual medical knowledge speak up?
- swsieber 11y ago
  Relevant HN thread about that story: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10434974 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10434974 It's has comments definitely worth rereading in light of this story.
- jleader 11y ago
  There's a slightly longer press release about the Alzheimers findings at http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_odor; http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_... searching for the co-authors' names led to what appears to be the paper: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep19495 http://www.nature.com/articles/srep19495 "Volatile metabalome" sounds so much more scholarly than "pee smell"!
  - chuckledog 11y ago
    Fixed link: http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_odor http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_...
- cmarschner 11y ago
  On a related note, dogs can be trained to detect (smell) cancer cells from patients' breath. Looks like McCoys medical tricorder should have a nose.
mhkool 11y ago
Another article where the editor is not up to date. Alzheimer is already known to be reversable (curable). Dr Dale Bredesen wrote an article about how he reversed Alzheimer in 9 out of 10 patients: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v6/n9/full/100690.html http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v6/n9/full/100690.html
- nitrogen 11y ago
  Can you provide a secondary source with similar claims?
  - e40 11y ago
    Yeah, bold claims.
    - paulmd 11y ago
      That article smells fishy as hell. And if Alzheimer's were treatable, today, it would be a huge huge deal, not something being peddled around as a miracle cure on the basis of a 10-person "study". They're making progress though. They've found at least one candidate drug that appears to clear up the Amyloid-beta plaques in mice. http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151208/ncomms9997/full/ncomms9997.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151208/ncomms9997/full/nco...
      - DrScump 11y ago
        But are Amyloid-beta plaques a proven cause of Alzheimer's? Or is it just correlation at this point?
        paulmd 11y ago
        If you inject amyloid-beta peptide extract from an AD-infected mouse into the brain of another, it then starts growing the usual plaques[1]. And A-beta plaque deposits are basically the distinguishing characteristic of Alzheimer's. So in my book that's very strong experimental evidence that A-beta is the causal mechanism of Alzheimer's and not merely a side effect. It seems to be basically a misfolded protein, like CJD or mad-cow. Usual caveats - nothing in science is ever proven to 100% certainty. Remove seal before use. Ask your doctor if Alzheimer's is right for you. [1] http://www.jneurosci.org/content/20/10/3606.full http://www.jneurosci.org/content/20/10/3606.full

57 points by davidst 11y ago

Reminds me of this, regarding a woman who (allegedly) can smell Parkinson's: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/301485.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/301485.php While I know of no reason to dismiss these out of hand, I'd also be more comfortable seeing them discussed in more depth. Can anyone with actual medical knowledge speak up?

swsieber 11y ago
Relevant HN thread about that story: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10434974 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10434974 It's has comments definitely worth rereading in light of this story.
jleader 11y ago
There's a slightly longer press release about the Alzheimers findings at http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_odor; http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_... searching for the co-authors' names led to what appears to be the paper: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep19495 http://www.nature.com/articles/srep19495 "Volatile metabalome" sounds so much more scholarly than "pee smell"!
- chuckledog 11y ago
  Fixed link: http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_odor http://www.monell.org/news/news_releases/alzheimers_disease_...
cmarschner 11y ago
On a related note, dogs can be trained to detect (smell) cancer cells from patients' breath. Looks like McCoys medical tricorder should have a nose.

mhkool 11y ago

Another article where the editor is not up to date. Alzheimer is already known to be reversable (curable). Dr Dale Bredesen wrote an article about how he reversed Alzheimer in 9 out of 10 patients: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v6/n9/full/100690.html http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v6/n9/full/100690.html

nitrogen 11y ago
Can you provide a secondary source with similar claims?
- e40 11y ago
  Yeah, bold claims.
  - paulmd 11y ago
    That article smells fishy as hell. And if Alzheimer's were treatable, today, it would be a huge huge deal, not something being peddled around as a miracle cure on the basis of a 10-person "study". They're making progress though. They've found at least one candidate drug that appears to clear up the Amyloid-beta plaques in mice. http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151208/ncomms9997/full/ncomms9997.html http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151208/ncomms9997/full/nco...
    - DrScump 11y ago
      But are Amyloid-beta plaques a proven cause of Alzheimer's? Or is it just correlation at this point?
      - paulmd 11y ago
        If you inject amyloid-beta peptide extract from an AD-infected mouse into the brain of another, it then starts growing the usual plaques[1]. And A-beta plaque deposits are basically the distinguishing characteristic of Alzheimer's. So in my book that's very strong experimental evidence that A-beta is the causal mechanism of Alzheimer's and not merely a side effect. It seems to be basically a misfolded protein, like CJD or mad-cow. Usual caveats - nothing in science is ever proven to 100% certainty. Remove seal before use. Ask your doctor if Alzheimer's is right for you. [1] http://www.jneurosci.org/content/20/10/3606.full http://www.jneurosci.org/content/20/10/3606.full