Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 olfactoryimpairment shows a pattern similar toother major neurodegenerative diseases

ABSTRACT

Olfactory function isaffected in different neurodegenerativediseases. Recently, it hasbeen found that some hereditaryataxias are also associated withsignificant olfactory impairment.However, the initial findings didnot examine the nature of theolfactory impairment associatedwith these ataxias. In the presentarticle the effect of spinocerebellarataxia type 2 (SCA2) on olfactoryfunction was studied in 53 SCA2patients and 53 healthy controlsubjects from Holguý´n, Cuba.Several tests were applied to evaluateolfactory threshold, description,identification anddiscrimination. The results showsignificant impairment in SCA2patients on all olfactory measurements,and the pattern of olfactorydeficits found suggests that theyhave much in common with thosereported for other neurodegenerativediseases such as Parkinsonsand Alzheimers diseases...(AU)