HomeNewsms, multiple sclerosisMS patients might suffer from poor perceptions of smell, claims a latest study

MS patients might suffer from poor perceptions of smell, claims a latest study

  • March 21, 2018
  • Posted by: PharmaScroll
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Smell-disorders

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder in the Central nervous system of the body. MS has impacted the lives of around 2.5 million people across the globe and in the US alone there are more than 4 lacs cases of MS.

There are multiple symptoms experienced by the MS patients including fatigue, weakness, depression, concentration and cognitive issues, increase in disability, vision problems, problems related to speech, numbness etc. The latest study “Olfactory dysfunction in multiple sclerosis” published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders on March 3rd, 2018 establishes poorer perceptions of smell as another symptom in early MS patients.

Study Details and Results:

The study states that, “MS can have various clinical manifestations, one of which is olfactory dysfunction. In clinical practice, olfactory disturbances are usually underdiagnosed. Aim of the study is to assess olfactory function and its relationship with MS disease duration, disability and cognition.”

The study recruited in total 55 individuals with similar demographic details, 31 of whom were suffering from MS and 24 of whom were healthy individuals, at MS outpatient clinic of the Istanbul Education and Research Hospital Neurology Department. The participants in the study were subjected to Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center (CCCRC) olfactory test and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) to measure their Olfactory dysfunction levels.

The study posted the results that the CCCRC test scores of the MS patients were lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Patients with a longer disease duration and more frequent attacks had lower CCCRC scores (p < 0.05). The Expanded Disability Status Scale scores had no correlation with the CCCRC test scores. The MOCA score was positively correlated with all domains of the olfactory test scores.

Conclusion:

In conclusion from the study, MS patients tend to have presence of olfactory dysfunction in early stages of MS, however there is not much correlation in the increasing disability in the MS patients and olfactory dysfunction. The use of olfactory dysfunction as a clinical parameter to track the MS disease in patients would need to be evaluated through further studies.

 

To read more news about Multiple Sclerosis, visit https://pharmascroll.com/news-category/multiple-sclerosis/

 

Image Source: http://www.theindependentbd.com/magazine/details/80534/Smell-disorders



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