Thursday, February 9, 2017

Sniff it first

In what’s not new news, but it’s to me, I recently read how a simple peanut butter test can be used to confirm the presence of Alzheimer’s disease.

University researchers conducted a study on 90 participants in 2013 using a peanut butter smell test.  From this test, researchers confirmed early state Alzheimer’s diagnosis and other forms of dementia.  This test also confirmed that other participants had no diagnosed cognitive or neurological problems.

Apparently, only those participants who had a confirmed diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s found it difficult to smell the peanut butter.  And the trouble they had was harder when using their left nostril.

This middle-aged man is prone to memory fog, now and then, and he likes peanut butter. Being ever mindful that my gracefully-aging journey will likely bring on more instances of progressive memory challenges, maybe what I need to be doing before shoving a whopping tablespoon of peanut butter down my throat is to, using my left nostril, sniff it first.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

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