--- ---  # Scientists Are Testing Whether a Nasal Swab Could One Day Detect Alzheimer’s  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 18, 2026 9:00 AM CUT  Volha Zhukava—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 18, 2026 9:00 AM CUT After decades of slow progress in understanding and developing [effective treatments](https://time.com/6244798/fda-approves-lecanemab-alzheimers-drug/ "undefined") for [Alzheimer’s disease](https://time.com/tag/alzheimers/ "undefined"), scientists are finding [new ways to diagnose](https://time.com/7273006/alzheimers-disease-blood-test-tau/ "undefined") the [neurodegenerative condition](https://time.com/7346163/weird-symptoms-neurology-neurologists/ "undefined"), as well as [treat](https://time.com/7314266/alzheimers-drug-injectable-leqembi/ "undefined") and possibly even prevent it. In a small study published in _Nature Communications_, researchers led by Dr. Bradley Goldstein, professor of head and neck surgery and communication sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, report that a nasal swab could detect early signs of Alzheimer’s. The researchers swabbed the noses of 22 people—some who did not have Alzheimer’s, some who tested positive for biological markers of the disease but were still cognitively normal, and others who had advanced disease and showed [signs of cognitive decline](https://time.com/4975972/dementia-aging-alzheimers-disease/ "undefined"). From those samples of nasal cells, they identified about 40 genes that were different between the control group and those with Alzheimer’s. Though the research is very early, it's an encouraging sign that these cells could be a window into [disease states like Alzheimer’s](https://time.com/6837037/alzheimers-risk-factors-ai/ "undefined") that occur deeper in the [brain](https://time.com/7320633/connection-between-daily-behaviors-brain-health/ "undefined"). The nose has long been an intriguing target for clues about Alzheimer's disease, since a loss of smell is one of the symptoms of the [disease](https://time.com/6986373/how-to-slow-alzheimers-lifestyle/ "undefined"). While doctors don’t fully understand why, the olfactory lining in the top of the nasal cavity includes the nerve cells related to smell, and these are directly connected to the brain, says Goldstein. He and his team knew that this area of the nasal cavity was accessible with an endoscope and wondered whether cells from this region could be a proxy for cells deeper in the brain that are affected by the accumulation of proteins like amyloid and tau in Alzheimer’s patients. The researchers took swabs of cells from this area and then analyzed their RNA to understand whether cells from people without Alzheimer’s differed in any way from cells from those with the disease. “What we found was that we could see obvious differences in looking at nerve cells as well as the supporting cells, especially [immune cells](https://time.com/5482827/how-to-boost-your-immune-system/ "undefined"), that were present,” he says. “Those changes look very similar to changes we see in immune cells in the brains of patients with more advanced Alzheimer’s. So we do think the nasal lining is seeing or registering some of the changes that are happening more centrally in the brain.” While the researchers did not specifically look at the presence or absence of amyloid and tau buildup in the nasal cells, previous autopsy studies have found those proteins in the nasal lining of patients who had Alzheimer’s. “We know in advanced disease that those things do indeed build up in the olfactory lining,” he says. What’s important about the current results, Goldstein says, is that all existing ways of detecting Alzheimer’s depend on finding factors that accumulate after years of disease progression, when damage to neurons in the brain is already underway. “We went in taking an unbiased approach to looking at gene expression changes that might be happening at the very early stages,” he says. Identifying the disease early could be a critical way to slow cognitive decline and perhaps even prevent some of the more advanced symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Current medications that work to reduce the burden of amyloid in the brain are anywhere from 20% to 30% effective, but if used earlier in the disease before memory problems even appear, they could be more powerful. “If \[these drugs\] were started at a really early stage, then we really do have the potential of possibly preventing amyloid from ever even building up and causing problems,” he says. Goldstein says the current findings are just the first step toward ideally developing a nasal swab test for Alzheimer’s. Before that happens, scientists will need to refine the test and narrow down the most relevant changes between those who develop the disease and those who don’t. The next step would be to delve deeper into the mechanism of how the cells in the nasal lining of someone with Alzheimer's are changing to mimic a group of brain cells called microglia, which are involved in inflammation, a key process in advancing Alzheimer’s disease. Goldstein says his team also identified changes in immune cells called T cells, which facilitate inflammation; understanding how T cells in the nasal lining are activated could also improve understanding of how Alzheimer’s progresses. “The nasal lining is very accessible and could serve as a window into the nervous system,” he says. “We need much more work before we can roll this out as an approved test or assay. But we are pretty excited that there really are detectable changes that are happening, and we have an easy way to see them.” Scientists Are Testing Whether a Nasal Swab Could One Day Detect Alzheimer’s ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/18/nasal-swab-test-alzheimers-disease-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/18/nasal-swab-test-alzheimers-disease-study/"},"headline":"Scientists Are Testing Whether a Nasal Swab Could One Day Detect Alzheimer’s","datePublished":"2026-03-18T09:00:04.376Z","dateModified":"2026-05-19T07:44:50.867Z","description":"Researchers report that nasal cells could be a window into what’s happening in the brain during Alzheimer’s.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/18/nasal-swab-test-alzheimers-disease-study/","keywords":["Alzheimer's"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt157864dc93013353/69b863ee0523220b6d9e9245/GettyImages-2263027644.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt157864dc93013353/69b863ee0523220b6d9e9245/GettyImages-2263027644.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2263027644.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Volha Zhukava—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":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/alzheimers/","name":"Alzheimer's"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/03/18/nasal-swab-test-alzheimers-disease-study/","name":"Scientists Are Testing Whether a Nasal Swab Could One Day Detect Alzheimer’s"}}]}] ```