Losing the ability to smell properly – a common sensory deficit as people age – may help predict or even contribute to the development of heart failure, new research suggests. The study, published Friday in the Journal of the American Heart Association , adds to a growing body of research investigating the role that poor olfaction – the sense of smell – may play in the health of aging adults. "We know that it's a marker for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dementia," said Dr.

Honglei Chen, the study's lead author and a professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing. "We are learning that olfaction may mean a lot for the health of older adults, and that led us to explore how it may be related to other diseases beyond neurodegeneration." As people age, it is not uncommon to experience some loss of their sense of smell.

Research shows nearly 1 in 4 people experience olfactory impairment by their early 50s. After age 80, more than half do. Losing the ability to smell properly can lead to a lower quality of life, including loss of pleasure in food and increased health hazards due to issues such as a reduced ability to detect spoiled food or smell a gas leak.

Being unable to smell properly can have other consequences. Prior studies have suggested a poor sense of smell may be an early marker for cognitive function loss , finding an association between olfactory.