Not To Be Sniffed At

The National Autistic Society said that smell could eventually become an additional tool for testing for autism.

19:33 06 July 2015

A sniffing test is now being conducted as an additional tool for testing for autism. 

 

The 10-minute experiment was participated by 36 children at the Weizmann Institute of Science. A red tube was used to send either pleasant or unpleasant odours up the nose while the green tube recorded changes in breathing patterns. 

 

One of the researchers, PhD student Liron Rozenkrantz, said: "Children with autism didn't show this modulation at all - they took the same sniff for the smell of shampoo as they did for rotten fish.

"This is striking and somewhat surprising."

 

The test has 81per cent accuracy. 

 

Dr Judith Brown, from the UK's National Autistic Society, said: "Getting a diagnosis is a crucial step to unlocking vital support services which can make a huge difference to people on the autism spectrum and their families.

 

"We believe that the possibility of developing a single and universal diagnostic test for autism is unlikely.

 

"However, in future, if these initial findings are confirmed and fully understood, differences relating to processing smell may offer an additional tool in the necessarily multi-faceted process of diagnosing autism."