- Around 64 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure.
- Researchers at the University of Michigan say loss of sense of smell may help predict the risk of developing heart failure.
- Scientists have found no link between loss of smell and risk of heart disease or stroke.
Experts estimate that around 64 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure – a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood throughout the body.
Heart failure can be caused by other diseases that weaken the heart muscle, such as coronary heart disease, as well as unhealthy lifestyle factors, such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.
Researchers at the University of Michigan say loss of sense of smell may help predict the risk of developing heart failure.
The study was recently published in the
People start to lose their sense of smell as they age, previous research shows
“Loss or impairment of smell 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 author main point of this study. Medical news today.
“Public awareness, however, is low: only about 30% of people suffering from loss of smell know they have it,” he noted.
“We have learned over the past two decades that loss of smell is one of the most important early markers of disease.
Loss of smell may also be linked to cardiovascular health, added Keran Chamberlin, a doctoral student in epidemiology at Michigan State University and first author of this study.
“For example, preliminary data revealed that
“On the other hand, we can speculate that loss of smell may harm a person’s health.
nutritional intake ,mood , and daily activities, which can endanger cardiovascular health over time. This may be particularly relevant in cases of heart failure.– Press Chamberlin
“As heart failure is an advanced, multifaceted syndrome, its progression can be exacerbated by elevated vulnerability,” she added. “Therefore, loss of smell may be linked to cardiovascular health as a marker, contributor, or both. »
For this study, researchers analyzed data from about 2,500 people in the National Institute on Aging’s Health ABC study. Participants who first enrolled in this study in 1997 and 1998 were healthy older adults aged 70 to 79 years.
Study participants were followed from the time their sense of smell was tested during a clinic visit in 1999 or 2000 for up to 12 years or until they underwent a cardiovascular event or die.
Scientists were analyzing the data to see if they could find a link between loss of smell and cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure, angina or death caused by coronary heart disease.
At the end of the study, researchers found that participants with olfactory loss had about a 30% increased risk of developing congestive heart failure compared to those who had not lost their sense of smell.
“Given what we’ve discussed about possible links between loss of smell and cardiovascular health, we’re not totally surprised by our findings,” Chen said. MNT.
The study authors also reported that there was no link between olfactory loss and heart disease or stroke.
“We’re a little surprised by the fact that we identified this association only for heart failure, but not for coronary heart disease or stroke,” Chamberlin said.
“Certainly, we don’t have a good explanation for this. However, compared to coronary heart disease or stroke, congestive heart failure is a more complex and advanced syndrome with a structural or functional heart abnormality,” she told us.
“Besides atherosclerosis, other myocardial stressors can also trigger hospitalization for heart failure,” she added. “Loss of smell may mean greater vulnerability to myocardial stressors beyond atherosclerosis. However, our findings are preliminary and await confirmation.
Should readers be concerned about possible cardiovascular problems if they notice their sense of smell changing? Chen said that at this point, the general public should understand that the findings are preliminary.
“We need to further evaluate the potential role of olfactory function as a marker for heart failure, as well as stroke and coronary heart disease,” he continued.
“Hopefully, this study will lead to a series of investigations on smell and cardiovascular health and provide the public with informed strategies for maintaining cardiovascular health,” Chen said.
“Our next step is to explore this topic further with more diverse populations,” Chamberlin added. “If the results are confirmed, by us and others, we should study the underlying mechanisms that link loss of smell to cardiovascular health. »
After reviewing this study, Cheng-Han Chen, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and medical director of the structural heart program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California, who was not involved in the research, said: MNT he found the results surprising because smell is not something we normally associate with heart function.
“Based on our understanding of heart failure and heart function, it is not clear why there would be a link to our sense of smell,” continued the cardiologist.
“This association found in the research may simply be due to the fact that an aging body develops both conditions simultaneously. Future research in this area should focus on validating a relationship between smell and heart failure with larger studies, preferably with longitudinal assessment of olfaction. Furthermore, the potential underlying mechanisms for such a relationship should be investigated,” he advised.
“As heart failure is a major source of morbidity and mortality in our population, identifying factors predictive of heart failure will allow us to better screen, intervene and potentially prevent further heart failure in patients” , added the cardiologist.
MNT also spoke about this study with Richard Wright, MD, a board-certified cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Wright was also not involved in the research.
He told us that he found the prognostic potential of impaired smell intriguing, provocative and important.
“Any simple criteria that can predict the eventual development of heart failure would be clinically welcome,” Wright said.
“However, like many good studies, the current analysis raises more questions than it answers. Because impaired sense of smell is strongly associated with aging, as is congestive heart failure syndrome, the simplest interpretation of these findings is that some people age more quickly than others. These individuals might be losing their sense of smell and heart function at a faster rate than others, and therefore the observed correlation between these two clinical conditions might simply be due to differential aging rates – analogous to the different ages at which gray hair appear. »
–Richard Wright, MD
“This observed correlation requires further investigation using clinical data – rather than billing and encounter information – correlating the type of heart failure, chronic medications used, and further exploration of comorbidities and social determinants of heart failure. health to truly understand whether heart failure “causes,” or simply correlates with, olfactory dysfunction,” he added.