[guru_meditation]

November 15, 2018 publication:

Discovery of volatile biomarkers of Parkinsons disease from sebum

https://doi.org/10.1101/469726 (free full-text PDF link on site)

From the abstract:

We have serendipitously identified a hyperosmic individual, a Super Smeller that can detect Parkinson's Disease(PD) by odor alone, and our early pilot studies have indicated that the odor was present in the sebum from the skin of PD subjects.

[lvs]

Thanks for the actual paper. No authentic standards were used to validate the assignments. These are being identified by low-resolution single-quad mass alone. The chances that these compounds, if they exist, are correctly identified is very small. For point of comparison, they also found artemisinic acid, an antimalarial drug precursor that is not typically administered in the UK -- and not as the precursor.