A study of 5,142 older adults (mean age 75.4 years) has examined the temporal association between olfactory function and incident coronary heart disease (CHD). During a median follow-up of 8.4 years, 280 incident CHD events occurred. Poor olfaction demonstrated a time-dependent association with CHD risk, with the strongest effect observed in the early follow-up period. Compared to good olfaction, poor olfaction was associated with an adjusted marginal risk ratio of 2.06 at year 2, 2.02 at year 4, 1.59 at year 6, 1.22 at year 8, and 1.08 at year 9.
Moderate olfactory dysfunction showed a weaker association but exhibited a similar time-varying pattern. These findings suggest that poor olfaction may serve as a short-to-medium-term risk marker for CHD in older adults, though the prognostic value appears to diminish beyond 4-6 years. Reference : Chamberlin KW, Li C, Kucharska-Newton A, et…
