Do You Think 'Old Person Smell' Is Real?

by SodaHead Living Posted 2012/06/01 19:00:00

Related Topics: Old, Person, Old Person, Old Person Smell, Smell, Funny, Older, Bad, Socks, Middle, Scent, Image, Middle Age, Elderly

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920 votes
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	Yes	735 votes	80%
	No	185 votes	20%

We can still remember the funny smell our grandpa had ... kind of like a pair of slightly stinky socks. Turns out, it wasn't all in our head! A new study shows that elderly people have a distinct scent... old person smell, to be exact.

In the study, published this week in the journal PLoS ONE, participants were able to differentiate the armpit smell (ew) of people 75 and older. "The results of this study support the cross-culturally popular concept of an 'old person odor,'" the study says, according to LiveScience.

However, the old folks didn't necessarily smell bad. Elderly people were said to smell less unpleasant and to have less of an intense stink than young people (20 to 30 years old) and middle-aged people (45 to 55 years old). Men, in fact, were found to have the foulest, most intense smell in middle age, while women were found to have a weaker smell than men (no big surprise there). Do you think old people have a distinct smell?

+29

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DeborahLakeHelen 2012/06/02 04:48:35

No

+10
Not particularly. I take care of elderly people for a living, and the only ones I've encountered that have an odor are those who need a bath.
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More polls by SodaHead Living

PokerFace 2012/06/01 20:00:46

Yes

i smell it in most old people

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frozenKmadness 2012/06/01 20:00:11

Yes

Of course!

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Tylisha Gourdine 2012/06/01 19:57:07

Yes

Even my grandparents have that smell. Every old person has the same smell and it's the old people smell.

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endthefed.soundmoney 2012/06/01 19:48:54

Yes

And we will all be old some day unless we die while we are young!

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Mike J. Hirak 2012/06/01 19:46:15

Yes

Old people smell bad

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MaryBoBerry 2012/06/01 19:46:05

Yes

Add that to another reason why I'm terrified of most old people

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SA to MaryBoB... 2012/06/02 19:51:23

smh

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MaryBoB... to SA 2012/06/03 20:18:18

I was born on a miitary base and wasn't around older people unti I was about 2 or 3, even then it wasn't too often.

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SA to MaryBoB... 2012/06/04 14:07:10

You have missed out on some valuable lessons. I was always around the elderly, and even worked helping them as I became older.
There is nothing to be terrified about. Most elderly are seasoned in life and life's lessons.

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GirlyAngel<3 2012/06/01 19:43:22

Yes

Totes! They smell like bulgar wheat and onion.

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lorenab. 2012/06/01 19:43:06

Yes

well, yeah its real, cause my great grandma smelled like old people. but my grandparents dont smell like old people. they smell different. so yeah its real, but not all old people have itt!:D

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pops 2012/06/01 18:34:16

Yes

Ah old grandma smelt like fish,clams and shrimp.

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dv 2012/06/01 18:07:14

Yes

But not all elderly people have it

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carlai 2012/06/01 18:01:16

Yes

+1
VERY MUCH SO! YOU SMELL THE WAY YOUR EATING AND WHAT DRUGS YOUR TAKING AND OLD PEOPLE TAKE ALOT OF DRUGS.

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gittyup 2012/06/01 17:59:37

Yes

I think there is a scent that older people emit and there is a good reason. Older folks, due the aging process are not able to do as good of job at personal hygene as they did when they were younger. I also think that some middle age people have the same scent not because of their age, but because they just don't care. This does not necessarily apply to all persons in these groups, there are exception to every rule..

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SW 2012/06/01 17:59:27

Yes

It's called "Ben Gay"

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pops to SW 2012/06/01 18:32:23

+1
And still is.

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SW to pops 2012/08/10 15:32:59

hahah

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Gimmedap 2012/06/01 17:45:34

Yes

I organize and conduct estate sales as a side business. It's a definite odor. And it's the same in all the houses I go in.

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Shawna 2012/06/01 17:22:25

Yes

+1
I heard about this on the radio yesterday. Yeah for the old folks! I always though my grandma smelled great.

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penguins in the night 2012/06/01 17:19:30

Yes

All the nursing homes and retierment homes I volunteered at from 6th to 12th grade I can confidently say yes it is a real smell.

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Cuppajo 2012/06/01 17:14:44

Yes

+2
Wow. What an incredibly crass, thoughtless and rude question.
If you were an individual, "sodahead living"; I'd kick your ass on general principle.

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Shawna to Cuppajo 2012/06/01 17:24:16

+1
There was a study done on it recently and the study proves that young people and middle aged people are stinkier. I think really, that so called "old person smell" is institution smell and it's about time the myth was dispelled.

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SlutBunny to Cuppajo 2012/06/01 17:52:06

Yet, you still voted yes? Hahaha, oops!!!!

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Cuppajo to SlutBunny 2012/06/01 17:54:51

They were kind enough not to leave "other" as a response.
Kindly get in line behind the individual naming themself "sodahead".

reply