Poor olfaction linked to increased risk for coronary heart disease

Poor olfaction is associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in older adults, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Keran W. Chamberlin, Ph.D., from Michigan State University in East Lansing, and colleagues examined the association of olfaction with the risk for CHD in a population-based, retrospective analysis of secondary data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, which included 5,142 older adults who did not have CHD and had olfaction as assessed at visit 5. Olfaction was measured using a 12-item odor identification test and was defined as good, moderate, and poor.

The researchers identified 280 (5.4%) incident CHD events after 9.6 years of follow-up. Poor olfaction was associated with elevated CHD risk; with extended follow-up, the association was attenuated. Comparing poor with good olfaction, the adjusted marginal risk ratio for CHD was 2.06 (95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 4.53), 2.02 (1.27 to 3.29), 1.59 (1.13 to 2.35), 1.22 (0.88 to 1.70), and 1.08 (0.78 to 1.44) at years 2, 4, 6, 8, and 9, respectively.

Using the period-specific, cause-specific Cox regression, the time-varying associations were confirmed. In subgroup and sensitivity analyses, the findings were robust. A weaker association was seen between moderate olfaction and CHD risk, with a similar time-varying pattern.

“If there is a decline in one’s sense of smell that can’t be explained by some other means, or even if it can, it should be an opportunity to do a comprehensive risk assessment,” said Neil Shah, M.D., a noninvasive cardiologist from Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York, who was not involved in the study, in a statement.

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