A Scary Experience!

[sublime]

Hi everyone. I have lurked for a very long time but this post made me want to respond so I registered. My mum died of Alzheimer's last October and I just wanted to say that it has long been identified that people with Alzheimer's disease have difficulty recognizing smells and that 'smell' seems to be affected before their other senses. My mum was given a smelling test when she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Mum also tried to drink liquids that were blue, green or any different colour.

Suzy

Hello Suzy, and welcome to the forum. Please don't lurk any more!

I'm so very sorry to hear about your mum.
My lovely mum in law died of Alzheimer's, and as I wrote the previous message about Alzheimer's and sense of smell, thought I'd better qualify what I meant.

It's that the enjoyment of nice scent doesn't necessarily diminish with Alzheimer's - even if the person concerned can't distinguish between rose or lavender, for example, he or she can still appreciate the scent.

When I took a bag of toiletries in to the hospital, one nurse told me that one elderly lady, who had very advanced Alzheimer's, would smile and sing to herself when she was given a freesia scented bath. [It had to be freesia.]
The scent seemed to stir some happy memory, and a deliciously scented bath was one of the few pleasures the lady was still able to appreciate.

Hope that helps, and sorry if I didn't make myself clear first time around.

Sublime xxxx