Early Sign of Alzheimer’s You Might Notice in the Shower: What to Watch For

An Early Sign of Alzheimer’s You Might Notice in the Shower: What to Watch For

It’s commonly believed that the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are all about memory — forgetting a name, losing track of a conversation, or momentarily not recognizing familiar places. However, new research suggests that one of the earliest warning signs could appear in a surprisingly ordinary moment — while you’re taking a shower.

Yes, you read that right. A simple change in the way you perceive the scent of your soap or shampoo might be a signal worth paying attention to.

When You Stop Recognizing the Smell of Soap

Picture this: you open your favorite bottle of shower gel — the same scent you’ve loved for years — but suddenly, you can’t smell it. Or maybe the fragrance seems faint, distorted, or oddly unfamiliar.

This seemingly minor change could be an early sign of cognitive decline, according to Professor Davangere Devanand, a psychiatrist and neurologist at Columbia University in New York.

Why? Because our sense of smell is closely tied to memory and emotion. The brain regions responsible for recognizing and processing odors — particularly the olfactory bulb and entorhinal cortex — are among the first areas affected by Alzheimer’s disease.