Can you smell illness?

[Sniv]

Maybe this is a well-documented phenomenon, but it surprised me...

Over the weekend a family member was feeling under the weather and had a temperature. I looked in on him sleeping and thought "it smells like a sickroom in here" even though the bed had been stripped and changed that morning, he'd had a shower a few hours ago, and he hadn't been sick or anything. It just had THAT smell. Fast forward a few hours and he was at the hospital with a serious stomach bug (he's OK now, btw).

I'd heard of dogs being able to smell illness, but not people so much. I thought the 'sick room' smell was a combo of sweat/vomit/cleaning stuff, but I googled and it turns out that various elements of your immune system going into overdrive can cause a distinctive smell. It's something I'll definitely pay attention to in future!

Just wondered if anyone else had any experience of this phenomenon?

This must be why dogs can smell illness, especially as they have a better sense of smell than humans. I read something very recently about tests on dogs smelling CV19!

Yes I can smell it, pear drops is a good comparison, but it's sort of like pear drops gone bad. Fruity and sort of sharp almost but not in a pleasant way.

Diabetics smell very fruity /keytoney if their blood sugars are high.

Bowel cancer is a smell once smelled never forgotten. Liver failure has a smell too but I can never put my finger on it.

Dying people also have a distinctive smell (one I don't think I'll ever get used to despite working in a nursing home where people die on a regular basis, and there is almost always someone palliative living there.)

Yes to parkinsons and alzheimers having a smell too, and it's not just the continence pads and questionable personal hygiene.

My cats can smell when I'm ill.

I can smell certain illnesses on my child, I can even smell hypoglycaemia and stress - which is probably two sides of the same coin. I know, I know. 😂 If only I could monetise this.

I can't, but then I can't smell morning breath either so I think that's me! My partner probably could, as I guess illness smelling is linked to infection smelling (which I can't smell, but DP can).

My sister in law says she can smell when her kids are ill, I always thought she was exaggerating. Obviously I was wrong 😂

This is quite fascinating, especially the medical and care staff who have quite finely-tuned noses.

I've heard diagnosis-by-smell touted as a thing of the future, Tomorrow's World style. I always thought it sounded a bit far-fetched and gimmicky, but perhaps not.

Yes i can. Even when they are still coming down with whatever it is and feel fine

This thread is so interesting!

My husband has a long term health condition and when a flare up is coming he smells different. It's hard to describe and it's generally only me who notices it, but it always happens.

I definitely can sometimes. My son had terrible ear problems as a child and his eardrum perforated a lot. When the smell in his ear changed it meant different antibiotics were needed and this happened so reliably and often my smelling him became diagnostic. I sniff my kids if they're acting a bit poorly and can definitely tell if they're coming down with something. It's not ketones but I've always wondered if maybe a slightly increased body temperature affects the scent they give off. There was a woman who can smell parkinsons. Did you read about that? Because she was 100% right all the time, they looked into and have developed a diagnostic test as a result

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47627179

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March. A few days before my initial appointment (for what my GP was sure was a cyst), my cat jumped up on my lap and actually recoiled, pulling a face like he'd been sucking lemons. I'd never seen anything like it. I think I knew at that point....

My mum always knew when I was ill, she called it the 'poorly smell' and described it exactly as pp, like pear drops. I've not noticed it when my own kids are ill.

I can with my DD sometimes. Mostly when she was younger.

My DP can smell when I'm upset or stressed. Apparently it's not bad, but I just smell different. Maybe it's to do with excess cortisol levels....

Sniffing the patients skin and breath was one of the historic methods of diagnosis in both eastern and western medicine. I gave my son a British medical text book printed in around 1890 which described it in detail.

@TheFormidableMrsC, I'm sorry How are you doing?

My dog always frantically smells boobs. When she did it the first time to me, I was concerned, as I've had lots of cysts, biopsies etc (very lumpy) but then I noticed she does it to all women, so she must be sensitive to something. Estrogen maybe?

Yes on DH and DS tbf on all family members- I'm quite renowned for it .

@Mojitoonthebeach That's very kind, thank you! I'm fine, my position is curative thankfully and I am about a 1/3rd of a way through active treatment now. However, I'll always take note of my cat in future! I have no idea what it is, I should perhaps do a little research but don't stop your dog sniffing, she may alert you (although obviously I do hope not!). I'm like you, been in and out of the clinic for years with lumps so you are that little bit more vigilant.

Not sure, but the medical detection dogs of Milton Keynes can smell one drop of a cancer containing substance in an Olympic sized swimming pool

I can smell when my kids are coming down with something - pear drops is a pretty good description. Most people think I'm mad when I say that though.

I have a terrible sense of smell usually but can smell when DC are ill.

Yes in my children especially

Yes and dogs can be trained to smell specific illnesses such as certain types of cancer, they're even trying to see if they can train them to smell COVID.

Obviously they have noses that are much more sensitive than ours but it does mean that different sicknesses have different smells and it stands to reason that there could be some strong enough for humans to smell.

I can only smell colds.....people coming down with a cold have a sort of onion-y breath smell before the cold comes out. Maybe that doesn't count though, I can't smell any other illness.