Some body odors can speak of diseases. A doctor tells us which ones

general practitioner

What do different body odors tell about?

It would seem that, along with sight and hearing, the sense of smell comes second in the ranking of importance of the senses, but this is not the case. In addition to the physical dangers of being unable to distinguish between odors (such as not being able to smell gas when there is a leak), problems can also arise from the importance of the sense of smell in the perception of tastes.

In some people, anosmia (loss of sense of smell) can lead to anorexia because the sensation of pleasure from food is reduced. Or, conversely, obesity, because it is necessary to eat strongly flavored foods to appreciate their taste.

There is another side of the coin: diseases and odors have quite an interesting relationship. The odor of our body is an important criterion that helps to suspect a person of certain diseases. It is caused by bacteria and secretions of skin glands, especially sweat glands, which are located, for example, in the armpits and groin area.

Here are some examples of odors that are indicative of certain diseases:

• typhoid fever – the smell of baked bread;
• diabetic ketosis – the fruity odor of rotting apples;
• elevated amines in urine – the smell of malt and hops;
• tuberculosis – the odor of stale beer;
• yellow fever – the smell of meat;
• diphtheria – the smell of sweets;
• diabetes– the smell of fermented apples;
• amino acid (methionine) absorption disorder – the smell of boiled cabbage.

Let us tell you what else the odor coming from you can tell you.

Immune system response

The human body is home to countless microbes, some of which are responsible for the way we smell. So when a pathogen invades, changing the balance of these microbes, the usual cocktail of compounds that make up our familiar odor is transformed.

The activated immune system removes metabolic by-products from the endocrine (hormonal) system. The levels of some substances in the blood increase during the immune response and others decrease, which also affects the odor our bodies exude.

For example, diabetes produces a rather distinctive odor – it looks like fermented apples and slightly resembles acetone.

Cancer

A sniff like a dog and an eye like an eagle is what many people dream of. In recent years, research has been done on whether dogs can use their impressive abilities to detect cancer. Scientists have found that animals are indeed capable of picking up the presence of colorectal cancer in patients’ breath and stool samples by smell.

But there are a number of reasons why dogs aren’t the best diagnosticians:

• preparing the animals involves intensive, expensive training and the time of an experienced dog handler;
• the accuracy between the work of even the same dog on different days varies considerably, so it’s not the most reliable criterion.

That’s why they are now developing “electronic noses” – devices that can replicate a dog’s sense of smell electronically, by detecting and analyzing volatile compounds.

The disease of those you live with

Back to the animal world: studies have shown that rodents are particularly adept at sniffing out disease. This affects social behavior and which other rodents they will choose to interact with.

Subtle changes in the odor emanating from the body help animals pick up signals of possible signs of infection and stay away from the source of infection.

The Monella Center in Philadelphia has found that disease can affect not only the smell of the infected person, but also the smell of other people with whom they live in the same place.