Does Your Race Determine When You Lose Your Sense of Smell?

As you get older, your wellbeing can be affected as your senses aren’t what they used to be. However, according to a new study, published in The Journals of Gerontology, this may have something to do with your race. Researchers at the University of Chicago, along with survey teams from the National Opinion Research Centre, have found that your race may determine the age at which you lose your sense of smell, as blacks and Hispanics lost their ability faster than whites.

For the study “Racial Disparities in Olfactory Loss Among Older Adults in the United States”, the smelling capabilities of 3,005 older adults between the ages of 57 and 85 were gauged using a standard test. The participants – who answered questionnaires about their physical and mental health, social and financial resources, education, and alcohol or substance abuse – smelled five different odours individually (peppermint, fish, orange, rose, and leather) and were asked to identify what they were out of four choices.

The results of the study revealed that just under half of the participants (49%) were able to recognise all five smells correctly, and there was a correlation between age and declining ability. Of the participants aged 57 years old, 64% were able to identify all five smells, while only 25% of the 85-year-olds were also able to identify all five smells. While the study found that women’s smelling capabilities were the equivalent of five years younger than the men’s, the more surprising finding was that non-whites scored 47% lower than whites. This means that non-white participants performed as if they were nine years older.

According to study author Dr. Jayant Pinto, associate professor of surgery at the University of Chicago, ‘We have long known that men begin to lose their sense of smell some years sooner than women, but this is the first study to point to racial or ethnic differences. What surprised us was the magnitude of the difference. The racial disparity was almost twice as large as the well documented difference between men and women.’ The study authors added, ‘Race likely serves as a proxy for differential environmental exposures and life experiences, which may interact with biological differences.’