Contact: Dacia Morris
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morrisd@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu

EMBARGOED: Until 9:00am, Dec. 13, 2004

STUDY FINDS LEMONS, LILAC AMONG TOP 10 SMELLS THAT COULD PREDICT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Dec. 13, 2004—The inability to identify the smell of lemons, lilac, leather and seven other odors predicts which patients with minimal to mild cognitive impairment (MMCI) will develop Alzheimer’s Disease, according to a study presented today at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) annual meeting. For patients with MMCI, the odor identification test was found to be a strong predictor of Alzheimer’s Disease during follow-up, and compared favorably with reduction in brain volumes on MRI scan and memory test performance as potential predictors.

According to lead researcher D.P. Devanand, MD, Co-Director of the Memory Disorders Center at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Neurology at Columbia University, pathological studies of brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease show that the nerve pathways involved in perceiving and recognizing odors are affected at a very early stage.

Smell identification test results from Alzheimer’s disease patients, MMCI patients and healthy elderly subjects were analyzed to select an optimal subset of fragrances that distinguished Alzheimer’s and MMCI patients who developed the disease from healthy subjects and MMCI patients who did not develop Alzheimer’s. Using the 10-smell test, which can be administered in five to eight minutes, Dr. Devanand’s study evaluated 150 patients with MMCI every six months and 63 healthy elderly subjects annually, for an average follow-up of five years. Inability to identify strawberry, smoke, soap, menthol, clove, pineapple, natural gas, lilac, lemon and leather proved to be the best predictor for Alzheimer’s Disease. The test showed high predictive accuracy.

The research, funded by the National Institute on Aging, also focuses on brain imaging tests and performance on memory and other cognitive tests, and is expected to help physicians determine the most effective combination of tests to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.

“Early diagnosis gives patients and their families time to make choices to maximize their quality of life, lessens anxieties about unknown problems, improves their chances of benefiting from treatment and allows more time to plan for the future,”

An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s Disease, a progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys a person’s memory. The number of Americans with the disease has more than doubled since 1980.

ACNP, founded in 1961, is a professional organization of more than 700 leading scientists, including four Nobel Laureates. The mission of ACNP is to further research and education in neuropsychopharmacology and related fields in the following ways: promoting the interaction of a broad range of scientific disciplines of brain and behavior in order to advance the understanding of prevention and treatment of disease of the nervous system including psychiatric, neurological, behavioral and addictive disorders; encouraging scientists to enter research careers in fields related to these disorders and their treatment; and ensuring the dissemination of relevant scientific advances.

Founded in 1896, the New York State Psychiatric Institute (PI) continues to contribute importantly to knowledge about understanding and treating psychiatric disorder and is ranked among the best psychiatric research facilities in the world today. Noted for its research on depression and suicide, schizophrenia, anxiety and child psychiatric disorders, PI is also at the forefront of research dedicated to unraveling the brain’s mysteries. Its scientists constitute the core of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. In 2000, Dr. Eric Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research in his labs at PI on the cellular basis of memory.
www.nyspi.org