Your nose can predict your death.
That isn’t clickbait. It’s evidence. Large cohort studies now show that losing your sense of smell—even moderately, and even without noticing—nearly doubles your risk of dying in the next decade. Moderate sensory decline is a stronger predictor of mortality than heart disease markers or even cancer screenings【BMC 2025†source】.
All dementia tests are too late. Sensory decline comes first.
And for the first time, it’s measurable.
The Overlooked Risk
Half of older adults already live with unnoticed impairments. A friend who swears they can taste fine but actually lost 40% of their smell. A parent who insists their hearing is “normal” but misses half of higher-frequency speech. These are not benign annoyances.
A 2017 study led by Jayant Pinto at the University of Chicago showed that smell impairment was a stronger predictor of five-year mortality than a cancer diagnosis【Pinto 2017†source】. In 2023, Ingrid Ekström’s team in Sweden confirmed that sensory decline tracks tightly with dementia onset, years before memory tests detect anything【Ekström 2023†source】.
Moderate impairments. Not complete loss. That’s what makes this risk so insidious. By the time a person notices, the brain has already been living in a quieter, flatter sensory world for years.
Why It Matters
Cognitive
Senses are upstream of cognition. They regulate attention, memory encoding, and readiness. Losing smell or hearing isn’t just inconvenient—it erodes the input system that the brain depends on.
Survival
The BMC 2025 study showed dual sensory decline (say, vision + hearing) nearly doubles mortality risk compared to unimpaired peers【BMC 2025†source】. Each additional sense impaired compounds the curve downward.
Quality of Life
Appetite, mood, social engagement—all tether to sensory health. Smell drives appetite. Hearing sustains conversation. Vision anchors mobility. Touch prevents falls. When any one slips, downstream systems destabilize.
The Opportunity
Unlike amyloid plaques, sensory decline is trackable at home. Unlike PET scans, it doesn’t require a hospital. Unlike memory tests, it comes years earlier.
This is the new vital sign.
Tracking five senses—smell, taste, hearing, vision, touch—offers the earliest measurable signal of cognitive decline. It’s a chance to take action before symptoms lock in.
Senior living communities are already experimenting with five-sense screenings as part of annual wellness. Employers are beginning to explore it as part of cognitive benefits. Oncology researchers are tying it to treatment adherence.
For the first time, sensory health is visible.
Real-World Implications
Senior Living: Residents with unnoticed dual impairments may already face doubled mortality risk. Quick sensory check-ins reveal those risks and open interventions—ENT referrals, hearing aids, refractive correction, even flavor re-education for appetite.
Employee Wellness: Midlife sensory decline isn’t tracked by physicals, yet predicts dementia 10 years earlier. Adding sensory screening creates a cognitive health layer that blood pressure cuffs miss.
Oncology: Sensory loss predicts medication adherence and nutrition. Simple check-ins may flag those who need extra support to complete treatment.
The New Standard
MoCA and Cognivue arrive after symptoms. MRI and PET arrive after concern. Sensory tracking arrives before both.
That’s the shift: from waiting for memory loss to recognizing the subtle, compounding signals already shaping brain health.
Tracking all five senses is the new standard.