Abstract
AN elevated taste threshold for dextrose in diabetic patients without evidence of demonstrable diabetic neuropathy has recently been demonstrated1. Although it is unlikely that this was due to a non-specific decrease in gustatory acuity, those patients having normal thresholds for sodium chloride, further investigation of this possibility was indicated. The closely related olfactory threshold was, therefore, measured in 56 diabetic patients and 56 control patients, of the same age and sex. The method used was a modification of that of Elsberg and Levy2, in which increasing quantities of an air–coffee mixture were released into the nose until the subject recognized an odour to be present (minimal perceptible odour). The modifications (to be described elsewhere) were designed to diminish important variables inherent in the original technique. The determination was carried out at the same time of day for each patient in a pair.
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References
Schelling, J.-L., Téteault, L., Lasagna, L., and Davis, M., Lancet, i, 508 (1965).
Elsberg, C. A., and Levy, I., Bull. Neurol. Instit. N.Y., 4, 5 (1935).
Yensen, R., Nature, 203, 327 (1964).
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PATTERSON, D., TURNER, P. & SMART, J. Smell Threshold in Diabetes Mellitus. Nature 209, 625 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/209625a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/209625a0
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