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Philadelphia’s ABC6 Action News interviewed Dr. Matthew Stern, an investigator for the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), about the link between loss of sense of smell and Parkinson’s disease.

While most people with a reduced sense of smell will not develop Parkinson’s disease, the majority of PD patients have a reduced sense of smell. Smell loss in Parkinson’s disease patients most often begins several years prior to the onset of motor symptoms such as tremor, stiffness or slowness in movement and usually goes unnoticed until it is tested. Studying the sense of smell may therefore lead researchers to identify people at risk for Parkinson’s before the onset of motor symptoms.

Take the PPMI smell survey at www.michaeljfox.org/takethesmellsurvey. You could be one of 10,000 people to follow your nose to research that could make a difference for Parkinson’s patients.