As a teenager, Joy Milne realized that she had a keen sense of smell. But it wasn’t until she was older and married that her ”super power” became apparent.
When her husband, Les, was 45 years old, Joy began noticing a strange smell coming from him. Les worked out strenously, so at first, both Joy and the doctors thought that Les’ scent was just sweat.
But as Les gained weight and became more tired, Joy realized that there must be something else behind her husband’s strange scent…
Six years later, the couple discovered the horrible truth at a hospital in Manchester.
The doctors gave Les a frightening diagnosis: he had Parkinson’s disease.
Joy and Les joined various groups and met many people with the same disease. Joy immediately smelled the same strange scent on strangers at the meetings.
“I could smell it in this room all around of me,” Joy said.
University researchers doubted that Joy could really smell Parkinson’s disease.
Sure, dogs and cats can smell diseases, but researchers had never determined that humans can detect a serious illness by scent.
But then, researchers created a scientific test for Joy, and she performed exceptionally well on it!
Scientists now believe that Parkinson’s disease may result in a subtle change in the skin’s natural fluids.
Thanks to Joy, a team of researchers can hopefully develop a test that makes it easier for people with Parkinson’s to get diagnosed early.
Unfortunately, Joy had to say goodbye to her husband, Les, in May 2015. But hopefully, her discovery will help many future Parkinson’s patients.
There is no cure for Parkinson’s yet, but I hope that this discovery leads to changes in the future. Share if you agree!
