The woman who can smell Parkinson's disease - BBC News

Joy Milne has an incredible sense of smell that is able to recognise Parkinson's disease on the human body.
She detected Parkinson's on her husband, Les, 10 years before he was diagnosed by doctors.
Now Joy, from Perth, is using her ability to help scientists develop a diagnostic test for the condition.
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[@DownhillAllTheWay]

Joy Milne's husband had this smell for 10 years before she found out what was causing it. There may be lots of people around who have smelled it, but have no idea what the odour means.

[@carolynwilson7736]

Exactly

[@calliepinto6628]

I didn't know what it was till I started working in aged care. It's the cortisol levels I can smell. When parkinsons is untreated, I can smell it when the person is healthy it's not easy.

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

@@calliepinto6628 Thank you for replying to my post from 6 years ago - but it's an odd coincidence. I listen to a podcast that covers all sorts of unusual quirks, and I thought they might be interested in this, so it was just today that I was thinking about it, but I couldn't remembner the details, and I would have had no idea how to find them. Your reply puts me right on it. You say it would be much harder to detect the odour before the patient falls ill with the dissease - but it should be relatively easy to train a dog to do it. Talking about dogs recognising smells, here's a heart-warming moment that you may enjoy. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXKol6SAi9mCsM0

[@nursekat6497]

Imagine being a nurse with acute sense of smell. I have the same problem. It's scary when you detect a smell. You know something is wrong with the person, but you don't know what exactly

[@andrewjones-productions]

What a fantastic discovery. Since we're able to train dogs to assist law enforcement teams to sniff out drugs, explosives etc., thanks to Joy, we may now be able to train dogs to help diagnose Parkinson's disease. If we could find people like Joy, that would even better, but as she pointed out, she is but a very small part of the population. Perhaps a machine that could respond to the smell could also be developed. We do after all have machines and gadgets to do alcohol and substance tests. Her name befits her as this discovery will help bring 'joy' to many people. Who knows, discovering the smell may even be a clue to finding a cure.

[@thenoicemango1827]

Dogs are already being used to detect diseases. They're really amazing.

[@phdcravenmoorehead5039]

Andrew Jones Productions this old hag couldn’t sniff out her own farts !

[@Jp82911]

Andrew Jones Productions I pray for this woman. I was diagnosed last year with Parkinson's and I'm only 35 so I hope they can come up with something.

[@brucebartup6161]

Once they have identified the molecule or molecules, instrumenation of a screening program would be easy IF the molecule is always essential in the condition and not shared with others.

[@brucebartup6161]

Scientific American article linked below. It seems sebum (as in sebaceous glands - oily) is the source, but that in itself is rather complex

[@BrendanB128]

I was diagnosed when I was 25. Id like to get ahold of this woman.

[@user-dk6re3wf6i]

have you heard about mrgfus therapy?

[@BrendanB128]

@@user-dk6re3wf6i yeah I've read some. I ended up getting deep Brain stimulation surgery last year and it has helped

[@samuelallan-chapkovski9631]

@@BrendanB128 Good luck with it bro

[@trialshoppl7203]

I can feel a pungent sweet-ish musky smell from some people. Mostly old but I recently came across a middle aged man and a 30-ish year old woman with this smell which was a bizzare experience considering I always associated it with old folks. My wife can't smell it. I wish I could find out somehow what this smell is.

[@dinahkruppa913]

Hypoglycemica have a strange smell to their urine. Their urine smells like fresh mown grass. I could smell it in the urine of a family member who was hypoglycemic.

[@Lina.Initiate]

Possibly diabetes

[@ancientheart5838]

Yea that's the scent it's a sweet musky scent. With a bit is meatyness mixed into it like a old persons homes they have a off fermented yogurty scenty rot to them

[@calliepinto6628]

The urine cotton candy smell is out of control diabetes (13BGL and up) The musky, cat old fur, sweet and kinda urine smell is parkinsons. Mental illness causing high stress levels causing high cortisol smells like cotton candy and acidy body odour of a teenager. Vaginal bleeding from a uterus in an older person is rotten mouse rich metallic and kinda rotten milk. Blood from kidney failure in urine smells like urine sweet, metal that one's harder to describe but total kidney failure does have a smell.

[@thereptileroomeh8646]

I have a 62 year old friend MSA (Parkinsons on crack). I've always thought the smell was attributable to a lack in mobility whilst he cleaned himself. But this makes sense

[@courtadbobtail600]

Perhaps you should tell someone about this

[@thereptileroomeh8646]

@@courtadbobtail600 honestly, I wouldn't even know who to tell

[@orando15]

67, I hope they find a medical breakthrough cuz their time is limited.

[@vedamosciski]

I can only smell when dinner is ready

[@Greenpoloboy3]

This is nice. The sense of smell we have is a wonderful gift

[@AirWindFire]

Incredible. To think that biochemistry changes because of disease kind of makes sense, but I never thought of it that way, the disease isn’t in areas of my body, my body is diseased and acting as a whole. I wonder what MS smells like.

[@SwimDeeep]

All movement disorders really!

[@00_DJS]

MS smells a bit musky, but also deathly sweet. A little bit like cows blood mixed with musk, at least that’s how it smells to me.

[@ghastlycreations5627]

God bless this woman i hope she can help lots of people.

[@gendoll5006]

I’m surprised they don’t train dogs to do this. I imagine it couldn’t be that hard ya know. They train them to detect drugs, if diseases have a smell I’m sure they could train dogs to detect and alert to it as well.

[@chrisfuller1268]

I have been able to smell cemeteries my whole life even ancient cemeteries where the headstones have all dissolved. They smell a little bit like lilacs to me.

[@jeanmarr5018]

I think maybe I can do this too. I kept bugging my husband to go to the doctor because something was wrong, but I couldn't identify what it was. Or maybe it was just something I saw, but couldn't put my finger on. I definitely know that smell now though, almost 20 years after diagnosis.

[@SkarKingg]

Sorry mam we're all special in our own ways and there's only one Joy but maybe you can detect some other human issue or infidelity

[@chaii_latte]

So what was the molecule responsible for the smell? They never said..

[@phdcravenmoorehead5039]

nope giant turds

[@miniena7774]

That would be the ‘eddoiajdioajdiwjaidjaidjawiojdwaiojdaiowdjwaiojdioawjdoiawjdoiwjdiaowjdawiojdawiojdaiowjdaiwodjaiojdaiowdjawiodjwoijdiowajw’ molecule.

[@joshuamorancie3221]

Amazing gifted woman!

[@user-yl1rv2eu8w]

The reason is very understandable. Changes in intestinal bacteria (so-called "dysbiosis")cause various diseases. I think Parkinson's disease is one of them, there may be an odor in substances that accumulate excessively.

[@gluedtogames]

Good thought. If you can figure out what that enzyme or bacteria is it could open the door for much earlier detection.

[@endthe.1percent]

Yes I took probiotics a few years before my first symptom which was a loss of smell sense

[@Aritul]

This is interesting.

[@keitymarley733]

Parkinson disease is a very terrible illness, my Dad suffered from it for 19 years until we finally got a help and a medicine that truly works that helped treat, cure and reversed all his symptoms. My Dad is well again.

[@ahmadasa287]

How can you answer please

[@keitymarley733]

Click and search #DrMadida for medicine..

[@mutshinetsianda2477]

How wonderful is that

[@1morag1]

Wow! Go Joy.

[@marvantony9655]

Amazing.

[@1983mojo1]

Wow ,I have it and cant smell and never had someone tell me they can. I did lose most of my sense of smell about 3 years before I knew I had it.

[@msmuffet_16]

My mum never had parkinsons or cancer but I did notice a smell , I also noticed the same smell on strangers in the supermarket.I know it wasn't cancer as I'm familiar with that smell.I still to this day don't know what caused it.

[@thegoldenboy294]

A few months ago i saw a short video here on youtube about a man in Europe if im not mistaken, about how he could sense any disease a person had in front of him, now i cant find it nowhere. Can someone with any information help me please? i would greatly apprecieate it!

[@caiomorino8672]

this is awesome.

[@robertharrold4214]

I too can smell a very unpleasant death smell on people in a large crowd or city location. I feel like a bloodhound of particular decay.

[@Alex-np4rj]

yeah same with me. I really noticed it when i started working at a grocery store and i had to deal with lots of people. I wondering if we are smelling death and decay of the body or different illnesses themselves.

[@3DCGdesign]

Would be interesting if a community of people with this unique ability could form and use their powers for good

[@maxheadroom3839]

Animals like Dogs can sense things people can't and they have a good sense of smell some people say they can detect if people are ill.

[@joycewalbert1413]

I can smell it too!!! My ex just died , but I knew he had this "dead skin" smell on ALL of his clothes- in his car etc... I'm afraid my son has it now- but he will NOT acknowledge it...wants t ignore it.

[@tasmingoldstone-gelderbloe6201]

Is your son still alive?

[@joycewalbert1413]

@@tasmingoldstone-gelderbloe6201 yes he is. He's going through so much stress and depression now also.

[@Beaneabean]

I dont get people who dont want to get checked out and get treated for something they may have.

[@endthe.1percent]

Could it be messing around with probiotics? I did years before my first symptoms

[@sweiland75]

Has there been an update, yet?

[@Dnyn]

I how she lives a long time so she can help people. If I had that ability I'd turn it into a career and every day I would work with doctors and scientists

[@dustinbreeden8137]

I've heard of hearing aids, but never heard of smelling parkinsons.

[@nozimakudrow2517]

How does one go about if they have a similar “nose”?

[@oskarixop5409]

I believe I have this ability also when I worked with individuals with Parkinson's they have a common odour. Some people have this odour on them before even being diagnosed years before. It would be interesting to get more of a description of what Joy mentions a thick Musky smell. There maybe more people if they can determine the smell.

[@FarmMushroomsforProfit]

My sister always had breath that smelled like apples. She has Parkinsons. As a hippy, her clothes, living on the damp coast, always smelled musty too.

[@tarkineWild]

The comments section is a cancer

[@miniena7774]

tarkineWild Wonder if she smells it.

[@greoalano4504]

I have the amazing talent to know when I stink and need a shower, I'm amazed a lot of people don't have this

[@vwylder9412]

I am in the middle of trying to figure out if I have PD. Is there a way to contact or send a t-shirt?

[@Competitive_Antagonist]

There's bound to be a waiting list with 134,000 in the UK alone already diagnosed with the disease.

[@ManojTewariigrowcash]

Incredible! I hope an algorithm can be created to replicate her skills...or rather 1 of a kind skill. Gods gift.

[@SoonHengTan-wt9gi]

It is a terrible disease especially from Stage 2 onwards. This might help. Take Vitamin B1 to tackle jerking body, quivering mouth and tightening of toe muscles. For my case I usually take 2 tablets each time, once a week. There are times, seldom, I take 2 tablets each time twice a week. Only take when acute symptoms appear

[@kaynebrown464]

I feel like I can smell people with diabetes

[@Aterhallsam]

Strangest superpower ever

[@craig6460]

This isn't unusual. Anyone who has lived with someone who has Parkinson's - we know the distinctive smell quite clearly.

[@fitgirllegbusta2406]

I can smell disease. I don't always know which ones they are. Cancer is pretty distinct though. Everyone in my family gets cancer - growing up, I smelled it often. Children often smell of disease but then they don't get sick, their parents do.

[@pale_n_tired]

I have a similar thing but I can smell when people are malnourished. A lot of the times, they smell like a medicine cabinet.

[@DeedeeSch1]

I can smell it too, and I also can smell cancer.

[@mangosteen1564]

Have u always been able to smell it or was there a particular time or situation that helped you recognise it and pin point what it is?

[@Zichronot]

I can smell illness also. I don't know what all the diseases are. I only know a few. I can even smell if your oxygen levels are off. That is the smell you have with lung diseases. copd , emphysema etcetera.

[@mangosteen1564]

Have u always been able to smell it or was there a particular time or situation that helped you recognise it and pin point what it is?

[@diondesilva8525]

Happy to see you face I was listening today sri lankan radio and they talk about you they say sincetice did research with you and they give some cloths to smell that and you did 99.99% 1 was wrong and that man or women get same parkinsonism after 2 or 3 years [ 04 / 08/2023 ]

[@RizaHariati]

BBC, how do you trained your journalist? I want to make my own BBC in Indonesia.

[@enquire422]

Riza hariati Employ Goons to knock at your door at night and peep through the window!!! Research BBC goons!!!

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

you mean your own journalistic organisation? the thought is a good start

[@bookwhorem]

must be why hospitals have a certain type of smell

[@MollyAnn1991]

whats that machine she puts on her nose in there? 0:04

[@susanloveshuskies]

2 years later and nothing.

[@Jamie8787]

That's when you know he was God's sent for you so you could walk into your purpose

[@MrACOUSTICPETE]

Gas chromatograph? Do other illnesses have a detectable odour ? Research needed me thinks !

[@quiettornado1970]

... Hmm makes me wonder if I'm smelling dementia.

[@Chris_t0]

love how they skip the science part where they actually confirm if she can or not, she obviously failed that part but the documentary was already done. She can smell parkinsons maybe but not differentiate them

[@AidenPearce806]

I can smell air

[@nmc2049]

Since I was a child I can smell pneumonia, lung infections, colds, and other illness that I don´t yet what they are. I smell diseases even in open-air spaces. If I can help science please contact me.

[@jo4ka]

When I was younger I would sometimes get a whiff of a certain smell and always used to say to my mum, it smells like illness. A smell dusty, fusty, acrid

[@tinfoilpope6678]

She is not the only one that can smell this. As a child I was able to smell this smell as well I just did not know what it was. My mother told me it was just old person smell, the thing is all three people that had this smell all had parkinson. How do I get a hold of important people to let them know that young kids can smell this as well

[@George-sc4yh]

Can she also work at airports, sniffing luggage?

[@marymay9542]

My husband has not been diagnosed with Parkinson's, but he has REM sleep behaviour disorder which is often a precursor to PD. I have been aware of the 'PD smell' on him for maybe 10 years. His father had PD and I became aware of his smell and what my husband has is the same. If I mention the 'smell' he gets cross, but I am aware of it. It does vary. The more frequent & severe his sleeping symptoms, the stronger the smell. I suspect this indicates the degree of chemical unbalance in his body. We are about to see a sleep specialist, but am wondering if he should be seeing a Parkinson's specialist, though he has been told he does not have it YET!

[@wastedlife9864]

I am 20 yrs old and I have REM sleep disorder and it is strongly linked to Parkinson's disease, so will develop Parkinson's disease and what about your husband

[@michaelcandido2824]

the symptoms usually show 10 years before onset of diagnosis. REM sleep disorder maybe linked to pd but not everyone that has REM disorder has PD.

[@JewelChick01]

I hope your husband is doing okay.

[@quiettornado1970]

I smell a weird breath smell on my sister at a younger age then most people who had the same smell at a later stage of life.

[@Beaneabean]

Maybe it was cavities

[@xondeez757]

Weird that she can smell it but scientists can’t figure out what exactly is causing the smell, it shouldn’t even take that long to figure that out or train dogs to smell the same thing

[@sammag6359]

Estoy aqui por locofer❤❤❤❤

[@crowbaril903]

It starts from working tho ehh

[@videossinsentidoaparente6160]

why do I think that her mother had something to do with a dog or something

[@pheobepeach]

Is there a name for her ability? I think I may be able to do the same as her. I am still a child so I'm to around a lot of different people because I go to school in the same area etc. I've never come across a sick person that has anything more than just a common cold. I'm still not sure if everybody can do the same as me and I'm probably over analyzing the whole thing.. I feel dumb saying this but if I can help people it's worth it, when I go by somebody, anybody I can smell their scent. Not their perfume, cologne, etc but their scent. Like when you walk into somebody else's house, you can smell everything about them. You can smell it right when you step inside, like an aroma cuddling the walls, floor and ceiling. Or someone's car, it smells stuffy and unnatural. I would appreciate it a great deal if somebody could reply, I am fully aware I am a child and plenty of people won't take my say into account because of that and will probably and most likely think I'm making it up to feel special or I envied all the attention the lady got in the video and pretended I was some sort of superhero who could help a great deal. Or perhaps you are not that person, If you're not please reply with whatever you want to say. :)

[@kpetrova9835]

Hi - Googled it for ya. Its called "Hyporosmia" or "super smeller" Fokks with hyper sense of smell.

[@pheobepeach]

@@kpetrova9835 thank youuuu

[@JewelChick01]

I don't know anything about this particular ability, but pay attention to it. Don't allow the skepticism or lack of support of other people to deter you from continuing to explore it. Personally, I think the human species is still mid-evolution. Anytime I hear or read about people with some kind of above-normal perception or ability, it sounds like evolutional progress. I have read about a small percentage of the population who can see additional color variations that most people cannot. If it can happen with vision, it seems just as likely to me that it can happen with all senses.

[@MVMGZ]

Thats awesome but could we train dogs just like a dr u g sniffing one to detect the disease

[@luciferata1919]

i can smell it too

[@mangosteen1564]

Have u always been able to smell it or was there a particular time or situation that helped you recognise it and pin point what it is?

[@Giller9]

But if it’s a smell then what is causing the smell, a bacteria? Can we get closer to understanding the cause of this illness?? Most animals have a mush better sense of smell than us. And get this, we don’t even understand the science of odor

[@lapissed9620]

Probably from the pheromones

[@mjcrj]

I can also smell Parkinson’s.people that have Parkinson’s have a specific smell

[@crowbaril903]

What exactly does it smell like luv

[@aboveaero]

1:27

[@bohodiryunusov4703]

id like to give an advice "stop taking trihexyphenidyl"

[@Straydogsandcat]

So Parkinson starts to mess with body odour 10/15 earlier How slow and progressive this disease is

[@S0L0R027]

I wonder if she caught covid and it ruined her sense of smell. I hope not. I used to have a very good sense of smell and now not so much

[@MamaZShaman]

This is so beautiful to see this video! Parkinson's and nearly all disease is "lack of ease." It is reversible, however, it requires change. Change is often not embraced by a great many people. Dietary, habits, lifestyle. The smell, is degeneration, I have smelled it all of my life, distinctly, and clearly, it is off putting, strong and heavy, for some diseases, it is metallic. People accumulate heavy toxic metals, mineral imbalances, have diets full of grain, dairy mucous, "meat," and lots of wheat! It's amazing, to observe the journey. I have seen miracles with coaching/consults!

[@srasteger]

Train dogs to detect the smell!

[@lifechangingmoments9074]

They can.

[@ciel3141]

dear old lady, it's ever said in holy books that knowledge individuals to whom the knowledge are blessed with, use it to their favor, any damage of all kind can be cured in any stage.

[@Cetza-qt8gd]

well dogs smell cancer and other diseases

[@craftyvoices2363]

I am a super smeller too and can smell covid and other diseases.

[@saurabhparate]

DOG Power?😆

[@hanksadowski7012]

ETAHGAL AKNAYIRP i

[@lizzynatir9083]

Great things Dr Madida on KZbin has being doing for mankind, I undergo his Parkinson disease treatment plan for weeks and my Parkinson Disease was completely reversed....

[@rickybobbyinc293]

You CANT smell better than other humans… your brain can identify smells better than other humans. You nose isn’t any different than anyone else. It’s your brain. Smart females

[@aboveaero]

“I don’t hear better than most humans, my brain just identifies audio better than most humans.” That doesn’t make sense because our brain doesn’t have a pre-ordained list of smells or sounds, it relies on the receptacles. So her sensory tissue in her nose is just more sensitive, meaning her nose is better.

[@Bonesph]

Did Hitler smell funny??

[@blueapple4044]

I can smell farts.

[@lottiess4877]

You smell that? *sniff* I smell bullshit

[@wolfinthewoods1400]

It has nothign to do with smell. She's a "Medical Intuitive" and doesn't know it. She knew it about her husband because they were so close. Some intuitives can "smell" cancer. Good stuff... worth looking up. Start with the book: Diary of a medical intuitive... don't remember her name.

[@MamaZShaman]

Yes, so true. We have heightened senses: smell, hearing, sight. I could always smell candida, a mile away; have been reversing disease now for over 34 years. We are Original Medicine, not psychics, not frauds, not entertainers, humble real people who truly help in a world that rarely sees this anymore, due to fear, or the dominant ways.

[@myssig123]

Yes, I’m sure you know her senses better than she does

[@osamelyvlk8962]

It seems impossible.

[@davidreyes1336]

Rostislav Adam So did flying to the moon hundreds of years ago.

[@TPerm-hj4sf]

WH, don't let her get close to Trump.

[@MrMakeithappendan]

She said she could smell Parkinson's, not bullshit.

[@miniena7774]

Damn y’all... Settle down.

[@ahyes2375]

If she went next to bill clinton her nose would fall off

[@TPerm-hj4sf]

Anonymously Handsome No one would even understand why Clinton would matters 10 years after exiting the Whitehouse , but ok ...

[@MrMakeithappendan]

Anonymously Handsome ha! She would still have health coverage!

[@normamorales8669]

In the spiritual realm you can smell the spirits. Thats an advantage we that follow God have.

[@normamorales8669]

It is a gift that God gives that means Parkinson's can be healed its a spirit. If you ask our Heavenly Father for healing in Jesus name he will do. When you seek in the word theres no healing that doesnt happen everyone who needs healing gets healed so lets cry out to our father he knows why of everything.

[@sweiland75]

LOL

[@bostaurus1]

Please meet biden

[@Garapetsa]

She has Parkinson's. People with Parkinson's hallucinate. It's not like cancer.