ISLAMABAD: Experts estimate that heart failure, a condition where the heart cannot effectively pump blood throughout the body, affects 64 million people globally.
Heart failure can result from other conditions that weaken the heart muscle, such as coronary heart disease, as well as unhealthy lifestyle choices like smoking and binge drinking.
Recent research from Michigan State University indicates that a person’s risk of developing heart failure may be linked to their loss of sense of smell. This study was recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Smell loss or impairment affects about a quarter of older adults,” said Honglei Chen, PhD, MSU Research Foundation Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and the lead author of the study, in an interview with Medical News Today.
“Public awareness is low though — only about 30% of those with smell loss know they have it,” he noted.
“We’ve learned over the past two decades that smell loss is one of the most important early markers of dementia,” Chen continued. “Interestingly, emerging data, including ours, suggests that smell loss may have more significant implications for the health of older adults, including an increased risk of pneumonia, functional decline, and frailty.”
Smell loss might also be connected to cardiovascular health, added Keran Chamberlin, a doctoral researcher in epidemiology at Michigan State University and the first author of the study.
“For instance, preliminary data found that subclinical cardiovascular changes might impact the sense of smell in older adults,” Chamberlin explained to MNT.
