Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Incidence of Parkinson’s disease in a large patient cohort with idiopathic smell and taste loss

  • Original Communication
  • Published:
Journal of Neurology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Patients with idiopathic smell loss constitute an at-risk population for the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study aimed to follow up a large number of patients with idiopathic smell and/or taste loss to define the incidence of PD in this population and, further, to assess characteristics of both olfactory and gustatory function and their possible association with PD development.

Methods

In this prospective case–control study, 833 patients diagnosed with an idiopathic smell disorder at our Smell and Taste Center during the last 15 years were contacted for a telephone interview. In 474 patients, a complete data set containing of demographic data, clinical information, retrospective smell and taste testing results, and telephone assessment was obtained.

Results

Out of 474 patients with idiopathic smell loss 45 (9.8%) had been diagnosed with PD, since they received the diagnosis of idiopathic smell and/or taste loss (mean 10.9 years after olfactory loss onset). Thus, with respect to the classification into olfactory/gustatory disorders, 28.6% of the patients with a combined olfactory and gustatory disorder developed PD, whereas in 9.9% of those with a pure olfactory disorder and in 3.8% of those with a pure gustatory disorder, PD was diagnosed. No association emerged between qualitative smell or taste loss and PD development.

Conclusion

This large patient cohort study extends the previous literature, indicating that risk stratification might be considerably improved by correct diagnostic allocation and emphasizes the need for an exhaustive olfactory and gustatory assessment in specialized centers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hawkes CH, Del Tredici K, Braak H (2010) A timeline for Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 16:79–84

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Berendse HW, Roos DS, Raijmakers P, Doty RL (2011) Motor and non-motor correlates of olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Sci 310:21–24

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Doty RL, Deems DA, Stellar S (1988) Olfactory dysfunction in parkinsonism: a general deficit unrelated to neurologic signs, disease stage, or disease duration. Neurology 38:1237–1244

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hawkes CH, Shephard BC, Daniel SE (1997) Olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 62(5):436–446

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Haehner A, Boesveldt S, Berendse HW, Mackay-Sim A, Fleischmann J, Silburn PA et al (2009) Prevalence of smell loss in Parkinson’s disease—a multicenter study. Park Relat Disord 15:490–494

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Postuma RB, Berg D, Stern M, Poewe W, Olanow CW, Oertel W et al (2015) MDS clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 30(12):1591–1601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Braak H, Del Tredici K, Rub U, de Vos RAI, Jansen Steur ENH, Braak H (2003) Staging of brain pathology related to sporadic Parkinson’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 24:197–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Iannilli E, Stephan L, Hummel T, Reichmann H, Haehner A (2017) Olfactory impairment in Parkinson’s disease is a consequence of central nervous system decline. J Neurol 264(6):1236–1246

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Witt M, Bormann K, Gudziol V, Pehlke K, Barth K, Minovi A et al (2009) Biopsies of olfactory epithelium in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 24(6):906–914

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ponsen MM, Stoffers D, Booij J, van Eck-Smit BLF, Wolters EC, Berendse HW (2004) Idiopathic hyposmia as a preclinical sign of Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol 56:173–181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Ponsen MM, Stoffers D, Twisk JW, Wolters ECH, Berendse HW (2009) Hyposmia and executive dysfunction as predictors of future Parkinson’s disease: a prospective study. Mov Disord 24(7):1060–1065

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Haehner A, Hummel T, Hummel C, Sommer U, Junghanns S, Reichmann H (2007) Olfactory loss may be a first sign of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 22:839–842

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ross GW, Petrovitch H, Abbott RD, Tanner CM, Popper J, Masaki K et al (2008) Association of olfactory dysfunction with risk for future Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol 63:167–173

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Berg D, Godau J, Seppi K, Behnke S, Liepelt-Scarfone I, Lerche S et al (2013) The PRIPS study: screening battery for subjects at risk for Parkinson’s disease. Eur J Neurol 20(1):102–108

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hummel T, Sekinger B, Wolf SR, Pauli E, Kobal G (1997) ‘Sniffin’ Sticks’: olfactory performance assessed by the combined testing of odour identification, odour discrimination and olfactory threshold. Chem Senses 22:39–52

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hummel T, Kobal G, Gudziol H, Mackay-Sim A (2007) Normative data for the ‘‘Sniffin’ Sticks’’ including tests of odour identification, odour discrimination, and olfactory thresholds: an upgrade based on a group of more than 3,000 subjects. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 264:237–243

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Landis BN, Welge-Luessen A, Bramerson A, Bende M, Mueller CA, Nordin S et al (2009) “Taste Strips”—a rapid, lateralized, gustatory bedside identification test based on impregnated filter papers. J Neurol 256:242–248

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Gaig C, Tolosa E (2009) When does Parkinson’s disease begin? Mov Disord 24(Suppl 2):S656–S664

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Morrish PK, Rakshi JS, Bailey DL, Sawle GV, Brooks DJ (1998) Measuring the rate of progression and estimating the preclinical period of Parkinson’s disease with [18F]dopa PET. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 64:314–319

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Marek K, Jennings D (2009) Can we image premotor Parkinson disease? Neurology 72(Suppl 7):S21–S26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Gaenslen A, Swid I, Liepelt-Scarfone I, Godau J, Berg D (2011) The patients’ perception of prodromal symptoms before the initial diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Mov Disord 26(4):653–658

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Pont-Sunyer C, Hotter A, Gaig C, Seppi K, Compta Y, Katzenschlager R et al (2015) The onset of nonmotor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (the ONSET PD study). Mov Disord 30(2):229–237

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Chen H, Shrestha S, Huang X, Jain S, Guo X, Tranah GJ, Garcia ME, Satterfield S, Phillips C, Harris TB, Health ABC Study (2017) Olfaction and incident Parkinson disease in US white and black older adults. Neurology 89(14):1441–1447

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Mahlknecht P, Kiechl S, Willeit J, Poewe W, Seppi K (2018) Reader response: olfaction and incident Parkinson disease in US white and black older adults. Neurology 90(20):940

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Landis BN, Reden J, Haehner A (2010) Idiopathic phantosmia: outcome and clinical significance. ORL 72:252–255

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Kashihara K, Hanaoka A, Imamura T (2011) Frequency and characteristics of taste impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease: results of a clinical interview. Intern Med 50:2311–2315

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Sienkiewicz-Jarosz H, Scinska A, Kuran W, Ryglewicz D, Rogowski A, Wrobel E et al (2005) Taste responses in patients with Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 76:40–46

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Lang CJG, Leuschner T, Ulrich K, Stössel C, Heckmann JG, Hummel T (2006) Taste in dementing diseases and parkinsonism. J Neurol Sci 248:177–184

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Shah M, Deeb J, Fernando M, Noyce A, Visentin E, Findley LJ et al (2009) Abnormality of taste and smell in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 15:232–237

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Deeb J, Shah M, Muhammed N, Gunasekera R, Gannon K, Findley LJ et al (2010) A basic smell test is a sensitive as dopamine transporter scan: comparison of olfaction, taste and DaTSCAN in the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. QJMed 103:941–952

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Kim H-J, Jeon BS, Lee J-Y, Cho Y-J, Hong K-S, Cho J-Y (2011) Taste function in patients with Parkinson disease. J Neurol 258:1076–1079

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Cecchini MP, Osculati F, Ottaviani S, Boschi F, Fasano A, Tinazzi M (2014) Taste performance in Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 121:119–122

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. Ilona Croy for assistance with data analysis.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Antje Haehner and Carla Masala contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Smell and Taste Clinic, TU Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    Antje Haehner, Sophie Walter & Thomas Hummel

  2. Section of Physiology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Carla Masala

  3. Department of Neurology, TU Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    Heinz Reichmann

Authors
  1. Antje Haehner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carla Masala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sophie Walter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Heinz Reichmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Thomas Hummel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antje Haehner.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Haehner, A., Masala, C., Walter, S. et al. Incidence of Parkinson’s disease in a large patient cohort with idiopathic smell and taste loss. J Neurol 266, 339–345 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-9135-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-9135-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation