Talk:Glomerulus (olfaction)

Glomeruli in old people
The Article states: "The number of glomeruli in a human decreases with age; in humans that are over 80 they are nearly absent." Could someone check this sentence? Does it mean that old people have are basically unable to sense smells? The title of the cited paper is "Olfaction in Parkinson's disease and related disorders". Thanks MilSin (talk) 17:43, 26 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Having looked at the article (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429117/ ; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429117/pdf/nihms345908.pdf), the line being cited (almost directly quoted really...) is this footnote: "2 The glomeruli decrease in number with age and are nearly absent in persons over the age of 80 years (Smith, 1942), being dependent upon trophic influences from the receptor cells. The receptor cells undergo age-related damage, either from environmental xenobiotics (Nakashima et al., 1984), from the pinching of their axons by oppositional bone growth within the cribriform plate (Kalmey et al., 1998), or possibly from age-related pathology like that documented in more central brain regions (Wilson et al., 2007, 2011)."


 * Having done a short review, I would say the wiki article is quite in accurate, and relies on an interpretation of a 1942 study. I think this 2002 study (Prevalence of Olfactory Impairment in Older Adults) by Murphy, Schubert, Cruickshanks, et al. says it best : "A total of 2491 Beaver Dam, Wis, residents aged 53 to 97 years participating in the 5-year follow-up examination (1998-2000)... Results: The mean (SD) prevalence of impaired olfaction was 24.5% (1.7%). The prevalence increased with age; 62.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 57.4%-67.7%) of 80- to 97-year-olds had olfactory impairment. Olfactory impairment was more prevalent among men (adjusted prevalence ratio, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.65-2.19)."


 * So about 25% of 2491 people ages 53 to 97 had olfactory impairment. That's... A lot less than the amount one might assume from almost all of the neuronal structures required for smell (glomeruli) being absent in most people. For people ages 80-97 it was only 63%! That makes me feel better about smelling the roses in retirement. 76.120.122.6 (talk) 22:56, 7 December 2017 (UTC)