一位得了帕金森病的男性引发了新的研究，她的遗孀发现她可以“嗅到”这种疾病。
今年65岁的Joy Milne告诉研究人员，她注意到她已故丈夫的气味的变化，几年前他已经开始有了帕金森的症状。
他因为这种疾病在今年早些时候去世了，享年65岁，该病是一种神经系统疾病，其症状为不断晃动和运动缓慢。
“我一直有敏锐的嗅觉，我很早就发现在气味中有一种非常微妙的变化。” 来自苏格兰珀斯的Milne表示说。“很难描述这种微妙的气味，但这是一种有略微麝香的气味。我不知道这是不寻常的，而且是没有被认知的。”
大约有五百分之一的人患有帕金森症，这是一种退行性疾病，是很难诊断的，且不可治愈。
在采集了不同的疾病患者的相同气味后，Milne做了一种有关嗅觉和疾病之间联系的实验。
在她可以从睡觉的t恤上确定帕金森患者时，她被称为“超级鼻子”。这促使研究帕金森的英国本周推出了一个项目，寻找疾病和气味是否有关。
“这是非常早期的研究，但如果证明有一个独特的气味与帕金森病有关，尤其是在该病早期，它可以产生巨大影响，” Arthur Roach说。
“不仅对早期诊断，而且它也会使人们更容易测试药物是否有可能放缓，甚至治疗帕金森症，目前还没有药物可以实现。”
科学家们正在研究是否有可触发皮脂变化的条件，它是由皮肤分泌的一种油性物质，科学家为了研究需征集志愿者200人。从他们身上采集的样本将在分子水平上做分析，并将由Milne和一组食物和饮料行业气味专家进行审查。
The widow of a man who suffered with Parkinson's has triggered new research this week into the condition after she discovered she could "smell" the disease.
Joy Milne, 65, told researchers that she had noticed a change in the odour of her late husband, Les, years before he developed symptoms of Parkinson's.
He passed away from the disease, a nervous system disorder whose symptoms include shaking and slowness of movement, earlier this year at the age of 65.
"I've always had a keen sense of smell and I detected very early on that there was a very subtle change in how Les smelled," Milne, from Perth, Scotland, said on Thursday.
"It's hard to describe but it was a heavy, slightly musky aroma. I had no idea that this was unusual and hadn't been recognised before."
about one in 500 people suffers from Parkinson's, a degenerative illness that is difficult to diagnose and for which there is no cure.
Milne made the connection between the smell and the disease after picking up the same scent from other sufferers.
She went on to tell researchers, who dubbed her "super-smeller" after finding that she could identify Parkinson's sufferers from T-shirts they had slept in.
That prompted research charity Parkinson's UK to this week launch a project to find whether the disease and odour are linked.
"It's very early days in the research, but if it's proved there is a unique odour associated with Parkinson's, particularly early on in the condition, it could have a huge impact," said Arthur Roach, director of research at the charity.
"Not just on early diagnosis, but it would also make it a lot easier to identify people to test drugs that may have the potential to slow, or even stop Parkinson's, something no current drug can achieve."
Researchers are investigating whether the condition triggers changes in sebum, an oily substance secreted by skin, and aim to recruit 200 people with and without the condition for the study.
Swabs taken from them will be analysed by machine at the molecular level, and will also be scrutinised by Milne and a team of smell experts from the food and drink industry.