What body odour reveals about your health

Our bodies are constantly releasing chemicals through our skin and breath, and these chemicals can create different smells. Some of these smells are just normal, but others can be signs that something is wrong with our health. Scientists are now discovering that body odour can actually help diagnose diseases, sometimes even before symptoms appear.

One fascinating story is about Joy Milne, a retired nurse from Scotland. She noticed a new musky smell on her husband years before he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Later, when she attended a meeting for Parkinson's patients, she realized that everyone with the disease had the same smell. Scientists decided to test her ability by giving her shirts worn by people with and without Parkinson's. She correctly identified all the shirts worn by patients and even picked out one person who was later diagnosed with the disease. This showed that some diseases can change our body odour in ways that can be detected by people with a strong sense of smell.

The reason our bodies change smell when we are sick is because of chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These are made when our bodies process food and turn it into energy. If we have a disease, our metabolism changes, and so do the VOCs we produce. For example, people with diabetes can have breath that smells fruity because of chemicals called ketones. Liver disease can make breath or urine smell musty, and some infections can cause sweet-smelling stool.

Dogs have an amazing sense of smell, much better than humans, and scientists have trained them to detect diseases like cancer, malaria, and even early signs of seizures. However, not all dogs can do this, and training them takes time. That's why researchers are working on machines that can smell diseases, just like dogs. These machines use special sensors and artificial intelligence to find patterns in the chemicals released by our bodies.

One scientist, Perdita Barran, is developing a test that can detect Parkinson's disease early by analyzing the chemicals in the skin. This could help doctors diagnose the disease much faster, so patients can get treatment sooner. Other researchers are working on devices that use real human smell receptors grown in the lab to detect diseases like prostate cancer.

Joy Milne now works with scientists to help develop these tests, but she doesn't do as much smelling herself anymore because it is exhausting. Her unique ability has helped researchers understand how important body odour can be for health. In the future, simple tests based on body smell could help diagnose many diseases early, making treatment more effective.

So, if you notice a strange or new smell from your body, it could be a sign that something is changing in your health. Paying attention to these clues and talking to a doctor can help you stay healthy and catch problems early.