A Michigan State professor will be using a $5 million grant from the National Institutes for Health to investigate the role of pesticides in olfactory impairment and in diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, according to a university press release.
Honglei Chen — a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics — is hoping to conduct research and make connections between pesticides, olfactory impairment and early symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases among aging farmers, the release said. In the project, researchers will assess about 2,200 farmers using a standard smell test.
The grant will allow Chen and other researchers to "connect the dots by identifying factors that contribute to poor olfaction among older adults and evaluating how this sensory deficit may progress to early stages of neurodegenerative diseases."
"Our battle against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's may depend on early disease identification and intervention, and poor olfaction has been identified as an early warning for these diseases," Chen said in the press release.
The study is being conducted with resources from the Agricultural Health Study and in partnership with researchers from Duke University, University of Chicago and Penn State University.
"We are trying to put everything into context with the ultimate goal of understanding the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases and factors involved," Chen said in the release.
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