The Woman Who Could Smell Parkinson’s

June 14, 2024

(New York Times) – After Helen’s death, Joy and Les returned to Scotland, settling in Perth, a town in the Midlands. They were ever more estranged from each other, locked in their tense routine. They knew no one. Feeling desperate, Joy eventually persuaded Les to go with her to a meeting of local Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers.

The room was half full by the time they arrived. Near the coat stand, Joy squeezed behind a man just as he was taking off his jacket and suddenly felt a twitch in her neck, as if some fight-or-flight instinct had been activated, and she raised her nostrils instinctively to the air. She often had this reaction to strong, unexpected scents. In this case, bizarrely, it was the disagreeable odor that had hung about her husband for the past 25 years. The man smelled just like him, Joy realized. So too did all the other patients. The implications struck her immediately. (Read More)