If you lose your sense of smell, it could mean you’re going to die

If you lose your sense of smell, it might be an important warning signal, researchers have said – meaning you’re more likely to die within a decade.

Researchers say that measuring older people’s sense of smell could be an important indicator of overall health well-being.

The study of almost 1,800 people found those who struggled to pick up scents and odours were more likely to die over the next decade.

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Dr Jonas Olofsson, of the University of Stockholm in Sweden, said: ‘Our results were not explained by dementia, which was previously linked to smell loss.

‘Instead, mortality risk was uniquely predicted by smell loss.’

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, followed 1,174 adults aged 40 to 90 for ten years and found those with poor smell were at increased risk of dying.

Individuals whose results in odour tests were no better than would be achieved by chance, in other words they had complete olfactory loss, were 19% more likely to expire over the period than those whose noses functioned normally.