--- title: Study: Loss of Smell May Signal Death in Five Years description: Older adults inability to smell may signal coming death in five years' time canonical: https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-02T08:10:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:26.174Z article:section: Health og:title: How Your Sense of Smell Is Linked to Your Lifespan og:description: Older adults' inability to smell may signal coming death in five years' time. og:url: https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf3f90fdcd2b2043/6986a6b61eebf79ddc37303d/smell-life.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5200 og:image:height: 2925 og:image:alt: Womans jaw, low angle og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Your Sense of Smell Is Linked to Your Lifespan twitter:description: Older adults' inability to smell may signal coming death in five years' time. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf3f90fdcd2b2043/6986a6b61eebf79ddc37303d/smell-life.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 03:13 video:published: 2014-08-20 section: health topics: sex therapy, Masters and Johnson, sexual intimacy, orgasm, masturbation, casual sex, technology and relationships, lack of desire, sexual health history genre: interview, documentary tones: reflective, candid, warm, thoughtful emotions: nostalgia (medium), concern (medium), warmth (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: adults interested in relationships, readers of health and wellness content, people curious about sexual health, couples people: Shirley Zussman, Masters and Johnson products: iPhone content_suitability: sexual content [00:00-03:13] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # How Your Sense of Smell Is Linked to Your Lifespan > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=26ab03ae-650a-4217-9eb0-e294c8a1db13&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now [Watch (HLS stream): A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8) (3:13)  _Published 2014-08-20. A practicing sex therapist in New York City, Dr. Shirley Zussman has witnessed everything from the legalization of the contraceptive birth control pill to the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s to the rise of internet porn in the new millenium._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Sex therapist Shirley Zussman, who has recently turned 100, describes her career beginning with a 1966 lecture by Masters and Johnson and the training she sought afterward. She explains how patients' concerns, such as learning to reach orgasm, have changed over time. She then contrasts past casual sex with today's reduced physical connection, citing iPhones, and names lack of desire as the most common problem she sees now. ## Key points - Shirley Zussman says she has reached 100 years of age and is still a practicing sex therapist. (00:23) - Zussman and her husband attended a 1966 lecture in New Jersey given by Masters and Johnson, whose work was little known at the time. (00:32) - Zussman describes Masters and Johnson's work as showing that good sexual experience requires learning to be a good partner and enduring pleasure for each other. (01:05) - In the early days, women most often came to the clinic because they wanted to achieve orgasm but did not know how. (01:33) - Masters and Johnson offered a relatively simple approach: learn about your own body and what makes you feel good, including through masturbation. (01:51) - Zussman says casual sex in the 1960s was not just casual but frantic. (02:12) - Zussman says she is shocked at the lack of connection between people today, pointing to iPhones and reduced touching, talking, holding and looking. (02:21) - Zussman says the most common problem in her practice today is a lack of desire, and advises people to examine their priorities. (02:43) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:23] Intimacy beyond sexual pleasure. Zussman opens by saying partners want intimacy, closeness, understanding, comfort, fun and care beyond sex. - [00:23 to 01:05] Introduction and Masters and Johnson lecture. Zussman introduces herself and recounts attending a 1966 lecture by Masters and Johnson and the training that followed. - [01:05 to 01:51] Early patients and learning to be partners. Zussman describes the early clinic's patients, mostly women seeking orgasm, and the emphasis on partnership and self-knowledge. - [01:51 to 02:12] Learning about your body. Zussman explains the encouragement of self-exploration and masturbation to learn what feels good. - [02:12 to 02:43] Changes in casual sex and connection. Zussman compares casual sex in the 1960s with today and laments reduced physical connection. - [02:43 to 03:13] Lack of desire and priorities. Zussman identifies lack of desire as the most common problem and urges people to set priorities that fill a need for closeness. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Shirley Zussman: "They want intimacy, they want closeness, they want understanding, they want comfort, they want fun" - [01:05] Shirley Zussman: "One had to almost had to learn how to be a good partner and to endure the pleasure not only for yourself but for each other." - [02:21] Shirley Zussman: "I'm shocked at the lack of connection with people; because of iPhones, even I love my iPhone." - [02:43] Shirley Zussman: "the most common problem, I would say, in the sex therapy that I live in, is a lack of desire." - [03:03] Shirley Zussman: "to establish something that is gratifying that really fills a need that we all have to be close to somebody." ## Questions this video answers - What do people want from each other beyond sexual pleasure? [00:00] - How did Masters and Johnson's work first come to Shirley Zussman's attention? [00:23] - What did women most often seek help for when they first came to the clinic? [01:33] - How does Zussman describe casual sex in the 1960s compared with today? [02:12] - What is the most common problem Zussman sees in her sex therapy practice? [02:43] ## Content suitability - sexual content [00:00-03:13]: The video discusses sex, sexual pleasure, orgasm and masturbation in a clinical, non-explicit way. by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Oct 2, 2014 8:10 AM UTC  Womans jaw, low angle Womans jaw, low angle Getty Images by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Oct 2, 2014 8:10 AM UTC The loss or erosion of an individual’s sense of smell may [signal](http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2014/20141001-smell.html) impending death, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Chicago found 39% of subjects who failed olfactory sense tests died within a five-year period, compared with 19% of subjects with moderate smell loss and just 10% who retained a healthy sense of smell. This mean the loss or degradation of the olfactory sense may serve effectively as an “early warning” signal that something has gone very wrong inside the body, says the study published in the journal _PLOS One_ on Wednesday. “We think loss of the sense of smell is like the canary in the coal mine,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Jayant Pinto. “Our findings could provide a useful clinical test, a quick and inexpensive way to identify patients most at risk.” The research was conducted in two waves over the course of more than five years and surveyed approximately 3,000 adults. ## Transcript [00:00] Sexual pleasure is only one part of what men and [00:03] women want from each other. They want intimacy, they [00:07] want closeness, they want understanding, they want [00:10] comfort, they want fun, and they want somebody who [00:14] really cares about them beyond going to bed with [00:16] them, and I think people are always seeking that. In [00:20] every generation. [ MUSIC ] [00:23] My name is Shirley Zussman. I just reached a hundred [00:27] years of age, and I am a practicing [00:32] sex therapist. I was invited with my husband [00:36] to a lecture in New Jersey, in 1966. Masters [00:41] and Johnson were the speakers. No body knew about [00:43] them. Human sexual response had just been [00:46] published, what I saw was a couple [00:51] who will say that people had problems in an area [00:55] in their lives that was very important and they were [00:58] recognizing that it was all not just. Glamorous and [01:01] wonderful to be sexual. One had to almost had to [01:05] learn how to be a good partner and to endure the [01:08] pleasure not only for yourself but for each other. And I [01:11] thought we can do that. Why can't we do that? And we [01:15] applied for training with Masters and Johnson at that [01:17] time. The patients that came to us were people who [01:21] read the paper. The only way they do anything about [01:25] the work that was being done there. And the problems [01:28] they came with, was somewhat different than the [01:30] problems they come with today. Mostly, women came [01:33] because would put out orgasmic, they didn't know how [01:36] to achieve an orgasm, but they wanted one. It [01:40] was so over that ,. Goal they had for themselves and [01:43] how do I get there. That was one Masters and [01:47] Johnson's contribution that there was a relatively [01:51] simple way to start learning about your body. In [01:55] other words, get, get to know your, who you are [01:58] sexually and physically and that was. And [02:03] encouragement for masturbation for learning what [02:06] makes you feel good. I [02:12] see a big change in the we view casual sex. [02:17] In the 60's I think it was not just casual it was frantic. [02:21] I'm shocked at the lack of connection with people; [02:25] because of iPhones, even I love my iPhone. There [02:30] is so much less actual physical connection, there's [02:34] less touching, there's less talking, there's less holding, [02:38] there's less looking, [ INAUDIBLE ]. People get pleasure [02:41] from looking at each other. But the most common [02:43] problem, I would say, in the sex therapy [02:49] that I live in, is a lack of desire. You have to look [02:53] at your priorities. You have to decide what is important [02:57] to make you feel good about yourself and your life. [02:59] And to help make your partner feel good and to [03:03] establish something that is gratifying that really fills [03:07] a need that we all have to be close to somebody. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/"},"headline":"How Your Sense of Smell Is Linked to Your Lifespan","datePublished":"2014-10-02T08:10:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:26.174Z","description":"Older adults who suffer an impaired olfactory sense are more likely to die within five years, say researchers","url":"https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/","keywords":["Research","Death","study","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf3f90fdcd2b2043/6986a6b61eebf79ddc37303d/smell-life.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf3f90fdcd2b2043/6986a6b61eebf79ddc37303d/smell-life.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Womans jaw, low angle","caption":"Womans jaw, low angle","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/","name":"How Your Sense of Smell Is Linked to Your Lifespan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A 100-Year-Old Sex Therapist on Having Good Sex, Then and Now","description":"A practicing sex therapist in New York City, Dr. Shirley Zussman has witnessed everything from the legalization of the contraceptive birth control pill to the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s to the rise of internet porn in the new millenium.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uJFYIrvP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-20T13:40:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uJFYIrvP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/","duration":"PT3M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3455141/study-sense-of-smell-death/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```