Briton who could 'smell' Parkinson's prompts new research

The study, funded by the charity Parkinson's United Kingdom, will focus on changes in the sebum - an oily substance in the skin - of people with the condition.

It follows the case of 65 year old Joy Milne who claims to have detected the onset of the disease in her husband when his smell changed.

The study was triggered by a Scottish woman, Joy Milne, who successfully identified people with Parkinson's by smelling T-shirts they had slept in.

Mr Kunath said Mrs Milne possessed a unique ability to detect small changes in smell that the average person could not.

She was attending a Parkinson's United Kingdom research lecture at Edinburgh University and mentioned the smell she had noticed to a researcher who then found she could detect it in other people as well as her husband.

"She does describe it as slightly musky, sometimes woody but I was amazed watching her work that she could discriminate... smells to me that would be the same, she would tell me what the differences were between these two odours". I had no idea that this was unusual and hadn't been recognised before.

"Tilo was interested and together we worked out ways to see if I could detect it from other people with Parkinson's and not just Les".

Parkinson's, which has no cure or diagnostic test, affects 127,000 people in the United Kingdom, leaving them struggling to walk, speak and sleep.

Milne correctly identified shirts worn by the 6 people who had Parkinson's, but also identified one of the people who did not have the disease as having it. The researchers were impressed that she'd been correct in 11 of the 12 people, she turned out to be correct when the man was diagnosed 8 months later.

The Parkinson's United Kingdom charity is now funding researchers at Manchester, Edinburgh and London to study around 200 people with and without Parkinson's. "It is exciting to think that the research has the potential to provide a diagnosis test for Parkinson's".

"She asked, 'do parkinson's patients smell different?' I was taken aback... but a long series of events led us to test her and she was extremely accurate".

The researchers plan to extract, analyse and identify small molecule components taken from the skin to identify specific biomarkers found in Parkinson's.

The team will also use "human detectors" - people with exceptional smelling abilities - to back up the study.

Professor Perdita Barran, leading the research at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB), said: "It is hoped these results could lead to the development of a non-invasive diagnostic test that may have the ability to diagnose early Parkinson's - possibly even before physical symptoms occur".

Dr Arthur Roach, director of research at Parkinson's United Kingdom, added: "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".