--- title: One Woman Can Detect Parkinson's Disease By Smell description: Olfactory wonder Joy Milne can detect an odor that may be connected with Parkinson's. canonical: https://time.com/4084875/parkinsons-disease-smell/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-23T15:14:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T00:00:02.000Z article:section: Science og:title: This Woman Can Detect Parkinson's Disease By Smell og:description: Joy Milne can detect an odor that may be connected with Parkinson's og:url: https://time.com/4084875/parkinsons-disease-smell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb4cb2ba469d1628/698869990a4a2214039c6b3b/parkinsons-woman-smell.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: parkinsons-woman-smell og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Woman Can Detect Parkinson's Disease By Smell twitter:description: Joy Milne can detect an odor that may be connected with Parkinson's twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb4cb2ba469d1628/698869990a4a2214039c6b3b/parkinsons-woman-smell.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One Woman Can Detect Parkinson's Disease By Smell  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:00 AM UTCPublished: Oct 23, 2015 3:14 PM UTC  Joy Milne and her late husband Les are pictured in this undated photo. Joy Milne and her late husband Les are pictured in this undated photo.Joy Milne and Parkinson’s UK  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:00 AM UTCPublished: Oct 23, 2015 3:14 PM UTC One woman in Scotland can accurately [smell Parkinson’s disease](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-34583642?SThisFB) on a person skin, and researchers have begun exploring the implications of her ability. Joy Milne’s husband, Les, died at the age of 65, twenty years after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. But Milne had detected whiffs of a heavy, musky smell on him as early as six years before his diagnosis, she told TIME. “I just thought he was tired and wasn’t showering enough,” says Milne. “When I said it he was a bit hurt about it.” It wasn’t until Milne joined the charity Parkinson’s UK and walked with her late husband into an event in Perth that she smelled that similar musk on people diagnosed with the disease; she [told the BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-34583642?SThisFB) she “could always smell things other people couldn’t smell.” Milne’s husband told her she should report her observation to researchers. The opportunity didn’t arise for 18 months, until another Parkinson’s UK event when she stood up and asked researchers during a Q&A why no one had used the smell of Parkinson’s for early diagnosis. “There was a silence, and \[the event speaker\] said ‘can you speak up?’ Milne remembers. “I said, ‘I smell Parkinson’s in this room all around me.’ None of them had heard anybody stand up and say this.” Edinburgh University decided to explore Milne’s talents by providing her with t-shirts from six people with Parkinson’s and six people without. Scientists were impressed when she accurately determined 11 out of 12 cases, even though she smelled Parkinson’s on one of the t-shirts from a person without the disease. That twelfth person contacted the scientists months later to say he had been diagnosed, making Milne’s record 12 for 12 — and she says she only found out about this final case on Thursday. Milne says that beyond that one case, she has not been confronted with the situation of thinking someone smells like Parkinson’s before that person is aware or diagnosed. She is hopeful that her scent findings can benefit Parkinson’s research in some way, since the disease still has no specific diagnostic test. “I just hope they can use it. My husband died only 19 weeks ago, and as a doctor he was very keen that we do something with this,” Milne said. The Parkinson’s UK charity is now [sponsoring](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/23/scottish-woman-detects-a-musky-smell-that-could-radically-improve-how-parkinsons-disease-is-diagnosed/) research to pinpoint whether a [molecular change occurs](http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/news/21-october-2015/skin-odour-could-lead-early-diagnosis-parkinsons) in the skin of people with Parkinson’s that leads to the potential odor link Milne smelled. ### How the Polio Vaccine Trials Relieved a Worried Nation  Caption from LIFE. Working under glass for extra safety, technician begins vaccine process with kidney tissue. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polio vaccine production, 1955. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polio vaccine production, 1955. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polio vaccine production, 1955. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In incubator room, test tubes of vaccine samples rotate slowly in drums for seven days under controlled temperature. The samples are then analyzed. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. To kill virus, worker makes up formaldehyde solution which is pumped into tube overhead simultaneously with vaccine-to-be from tank. When throughly mixed, liquid goes back into tank where formaldehyde does its work. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Potency test is performed with monkey who gets injections of vaccine just as children. Blood sample is examined to see if antibodies have formed. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polio vaccine production, 1955. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Polio vaccine production, 1955. Al Fenn—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Child receiving a polio vaccination, 1955. 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