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?

I can smell it on DD. Her head and breath smell sweet to me. Can’t smell it on anyone else though but maybe I don’t sniff them close enough

Hi, the people who say some cancers..

Are any a lavendar sort of smell?

Unfortunately I can smell/taste serious illness especially cancer. I knew my DH had cancer and where even when the medics were in denial. I've also been aware of cancer in many other people. I 'feel' on the tip of my tongue. It's not a blessing.

Yes I can.

I have 100% smelt the "illness" smell many times! Even on myself once

I believe mrsa has a particular odour.

Wishing you a swift recovery @TheFormidableMrsC

The BBC article about the nurse who can smell Parkinson's is such a sad story. That's a heavy superpower to bear; I don't know how I'd deal with it. What if you noticed a stranger on the bus - do you tell them?

Yes. Really, yes. I sniff DB (who is 48) to see how healthy he is - it annoys him.

Can anyone else smell stress? Gag, gag, gag.

I can smell it but didnt know until I had children and realised I could smell illness on their breath very clearly, not so much from their skin, but if they are quite poorly I can smell it on their skin.
So since this I realised I can smell it on other people too.
I used to have swimming lessons and a lady I was friendly with smelled so bad to me I couldn't bear to stand near her, I knew she was ill but she didn't, and I didn't really know how to tell her. She ended up with a cancer diagnosis and I felt awful as if I could have somehow sent her to the gp earlier.
I do smell this on people, and just try to stand further away from them, which makes me feel guilty and cowardly.

My DC smell different the day before they get ill - I always give them a hug before sleep time and often I'll come downstairs after and tell DH that one will be poorly the next day. He can't smell it, but now trusts my nose

Gum disease has a very particular smell
We ( dental types) call it perio-breath
It’s like rotten flesh putrid bacteria and sulphur all mixed up

And people wonder why we nag them to floss

I can smell if DH or DD is coming down with something. DH can smell a pregnancy. He used to complain about MY pregnant smell, like biscuits or something, and he can smell it on women he meets at work, or at the shops.

@IHaveBrilloHair

My cats can smell when I'm ill.

The only time my female cat has been cuddly with me is post-miscarriage. Don’t know if she sensed it or smelled it.

I can with my children, they get a kind of metallic smell

A friend of mine could smell death amd it freaked her out. Most often around the elderly, but sometimes with younger, seemingly healthy people.
She hates it.

Yes I can , especially in my immediate family .

I tell my mum that my son “smells ill” and she thinks I’m insane.

Yes - I came home from university noticed a very strange chemical smell coming from my dad. No one else could smell it; he was diagnosed with cancer and died a few years later. Fast forward to last year - same strange chemical smell from my mum and a month later she was diagnosed with a stage 4 malignancy

My kids smell different when they're ill. Not noticed it with others.

My mum swore by us having a smell when not well. I have smelt it on my own children, especially when my ds used to get tonsillitis before he had them out. The smell was awful, but not as bad as the smell after he'd had them out as it healed, could smell him across the room!

Even at 18y I can smell when dd is sick. Less so with other people.

I can with DC when they are poorly. I wouldn’t describe it as the ketone pear drop though (ds is type 1 and we had full blown DKA at diagnosis.)

It’s just an instinctive bad smell.

I can always smell when my son is ill.

Doctors did used to diagnose things by smell.

Another here who can smell when my children are getting ill. Very weird! DH says he can’t smell it like me. They just smell ‘wrong’ the day or 2 before.

@WanderingMilly

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.

I was going to say when people have colds it's quite garlicky or something.

I've no idea if I can smell anything else. You'd have to notice a smell and then know they were ill. I'm not the type to hug very much so that might not help.