Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Do older people have a different smell?

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 71 posts

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#41

Post by felipemnoa »

r0ze-at-hn wrote: post #23
salawat wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it overlaid on your visual field, or more of a parallel mental construct? Also, are there any particularly noteworthy smells in terms of representation? I have to admit, the idea of a visual artifact for smells is amazing!

It isn't overlaid in my visual field, more like how you imaging or remember things in your head, very hard to describe. I usually don't pay attention but it is just there. noteworthy? If I concentrate I can follow the trail of someone with a strong sent that had walked by in the last say 10 minutes like a blood hound. I _know_ when fish is labeled incorrectly when I do my weekly grocery shopping. I know when that per…

>>It isn't overlaid in my visual field, more like how you imaging or remember things in your head

So to be more exact you can "see" smells with your mind's eye but you do not actually see anything with your physical eyes when smelling something.

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#42

Post by leetbulb »

bradly wrote: post #27
dredmorbius wrote: post #4

Babies smell. My friend, undergoing radiation therapy for cancer, had a distinct smell. As have those treated with specific chemotherapies. Athletes smell. Indoor and outdoor athletes differently. Pool swimmers of chlorine, open-water swimmers of the sea. Parkinsons and Alzheimers appear to have distinctive smells. Diabetes is characterised for its distinct smell (and taste). We are chemically-regulated, processing,…

Backpacking can cause an ammonia type smell from burning fat and muscle breakdown. It's a smell similar to the smell from homeless people that I always just assumed was because both backpackers and homeless bathe less often than others, but that is just a coincidence of both group's bodies breaking down muscle from not enough of protein/carbs/nutrients.

I believe what you're referring to is called "keto breath" in the keto-diet community. It's due to acetone, which is one of the ketones produced while in a state of ketosis / fasting.

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#43

Post by edgarvaldes »

foxfired wrote: post #29

If scent is of interest to you, I suggest you read Perfume by Patrick Suskind. I couldn't help but notice the distinct smell of everything and everyone after reading this book.

One of those books[1] that are really hard to translate to another medium. The movie tried, but somehow the book can give you a better approximation about the sense of smell.

[1] Another one is the upcoming adaptation of The Colour Out of Space

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#44

Post by LinuxBender »

dredmorbius wrote: post #4

Babies smell. My friend, undergoing radiation therapy for cancer, had a distinct smell. As have those treated with specific chemotherapies. Athletes smell. Indoor and outdoor athletes differently. Pool swimmers of chlorine, open-water swimmers of the sea. Parkinsons and Alzheimers appear to have distinctive smells. Diabetes is characterised for its distinct smell (and taste). We are chemically-regulated, processing,…

Also Hepatitus-C. My great uncle during WWII would identify which soldiers were infected based on smell. He was right in every case.

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#45

Post by scarejunba »

beat wrote: post #21
jraph wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you notice you were seeing smells (and not everybody is)?

Synesthesia is very hard to explain. It's like explaining color to the blind. I have mild synesthesia myself - I hear flavors. I can say "I hear flavors", but that doesn't help to tell you what different flavors sound like, because sounds themselves are very hard to describe in words. The best way to experience something like synesthesia is under the influence of LSD or similar drugs. Not that I recommend it, but it…

Which other similar drugs? I haven't ever had that happen under LSD.

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#46

Post by coldtea »

Andrex wrote: post #31
lonelappde wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swimming seems a special case because that's a clearly foreign substance attached to the body. More interesting are cases where the lifestyle causes smellable long-term changes to body chemistry that can't be cleaned off.

Immersing yourself in chlorine for large stretches of time probably messes with your skin's biome, though I agree probably not to the extent that the change alone would produce a discernible smell.

>though I agree probably not to the extent that the change alone would produce a discernible smell.

If you do it often (e.g. swim professionally), why not?

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#47

Post by dredmorbius »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #36
dredmorbius wrote: post #4

Babies smell. My friend, undergoing radiation therapy for cancer, had a distinct smell. As have those treated with specific chemotherapies. Athletes smell. Indoor and outdoor athletes differently. Pool swimmers of chlorine, open-water swimmers of the sea. Parkinsons and Alzheimers appear to have distinctive smells. Diabetes is characterised for its distinct smell (and taste). We are chemically-regulated, processing,…

> Another aspect of older people (and again: Parkinsons and Alzheimers in particular) is a loss of the sense of smell. Which may mean that odors otherwise noticeable and addressed aren't. I highly suspect you hit the nail on the head here from personal experience: My grandma no longer has any sense of smell (or taste, actually) at all. I recall at one point discovering a particularly pungent smell was caused actually…

I've directly encountered the gas-hob-on-but-unlit scenario myself with someone whose sense of smell is virtually completely gone, and it terrifies me.

(How far gone? They are unable to distinguish, or detect, the sents of various Dr. Bronners soaps, directly before them.)

And mercaptan[1] (the oderising component in municipal natural gas) is among the most detectable scents in existence. The reasons why it was introduced[2] and its alternate uses[3] are worthwhile reads. As I've noted elsewhere, virtually all safety regulations are written in blood, this one the 295+ souls claimed at New London.

________________________________

Notes:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanethiol

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion

3. http://zacon.ca/stench-gas/

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#49

Post by ocdtrekkie »

dredmorbius wrote: post #47
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Another aspect of older people (and again: Parkinsons and Alzheimers in particular) is a loss of the sense of smell. Which may mean that odors otherwise noticeable and addressed aren't. I highly suspect you hit the nail on the head here from personal experience: My grandma no longer has any sense of smell (or taste, actually) at all. I recall at one point discovering a particularly pungent smell was caused actually…

I've directly encountered the gas-hob-on-but-unlit scenario myself with someone whose sense of smell is virtually completely gone, and it terrifies me. (How far gone? They are unable to distinguish, or detect, the sents of various Dr. Bronners soaps, directly before them.) And mercaptan[1] (the oderising component in municipal natural gas) is among the most detectable scents in existence. The reasons why it was intro…

You know how horrible 2-part epoxy smells? She can't smell it an inch from her nose. I mean zero sense of smell.

Re: Do older people have a different smell?

#50

Post by slowhand09 »

I used to be the 1st person mosquitoes went after, fair-skinned as I am. I had a surgery recently and for several months a few of my blood metrics have lower than normal levels (hemocrit, red cell count, platelet count, etc). Now I watch others slapping at mosquitoes which seem no longer attracted to me. My theory is I don't "smell" as good to the little bloodsuckers.
Post reply on HN