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Do You Think 'Old Person Smell' Is Real?

SodaHead Living 2012/06/01 19:00:00
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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.

old person

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?
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Top Opinion

  • DeborahLakeHelen 2012/06/02 04:48:35
    No
    DeborahLakeHelen
    +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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Opinions

  • kotabear LADY LI... 2012/06/04 10:15:03
    kotabear
    +1
    I'm not ridiculing them, I'm just saying that some of them smell bad. It's the way it is.
  • •Sora•Knightwalker• 2012/06/03 20:27:47
    Yes
    •Sora•Knightwalker•
    +2
    Though most seem to hide it with perfume...
  • txtumlin •Sora•K... 2012/06/04 23:03:30
    txtumlin
    attempt to . . .
  • KATLYN 2012/06/03 19:53:14
    No
    KATLYN
    +2
    never noticed a smell on anyone that i can remember unless they were dying
  • DancingMachine 2012/06/03 19:30:31
    Yes
    DancingMachine
    Well, they kind of are decaying....I suppose that's the smell
  • LADY LI... Dancing... 2012/06/04 00:34:16
    LADY LIBERTY SILLY WORDSMITH
    +1
    DON'T BE SUPERCILIOUS to OLD PEOPLE!

    NO ONE will be YOUNG FOREVER;

    Even with BOTOX and PLASTIC SURGERIES;

    YOUR TURN WILL COME, YOUNGSTERS-NOW!
  • Buoyant Leadraft 2012/06/03 19:23:29
    Yes
    Buoyant Leadraft
    +1
    You mean one day when we get old we will have old person smell? What can we do to stop it? I sure hope we don't end up in adult diapers telling people to get off our lawn.
    This is all very upsetting to me now.
  • words t... Buoyant... 2012/06/03 22:03:12
    words to live by
    +1
    If you bathe there is no oder. There is no such thing as 'old people smell'....There are home oders if it's not clean...If you live to see old age, everything slows down or doesn't work as well...That's life....
  • Buoyant... words t... 2012/06/03 22:22:51 (edited)
    Buoyant Leadraft
    +1
    Then why do all old people get that awful scented wax fruit and mothball smell?
    The smell can often change without warning. Sometimes the smell has a sulfurous undertone, while other times it takes on a more ascitic ammonia note.
  • words t... Buoyant... 2012/06/04 00:24:35 (edited)
    words to live by
    How many old people have you been around to form that opinion? You talk like all old people smell crappy! I'm saying my Mother lived to be 87 and she never smelled that way. Can you still buy wax fruit?
  • Buoyant... words t... 2012/06/04 00:33:46 (edited)
    Buoyant Leadraft
    +1
    Yes we have a wax fruit outlet up the street. But their air conditioning failed and they lost everything. I think they are trying to get a quicken loans.

    Well, when I get older i'll just have to take six or seven baths a day. Just as you recommended for getting rid of and controlling OPS. Thanks for your good advice.
  • words t... Buoyant... 2012/06/04 00:51:18
    words to live by
    I didn't tell you to bathe 6-7 times a day....I repeat...I have never smelled any odor coming from any old people. I have no idea what these people are smelling.
  • Builder Buoyant... 2012/06/06 11:33:34
    Builder
    Many old people use mothball. My grandma's room always had that smell although her house always smelt like cookies or pies baking. She also had an apple smell going.
  • Buoyant... Builder 2012/06/06 17:45:36
    Buoyant Leadraft
    I have heard many old people rely on baking pies in the kitchen to cover up their OPS and mask it, when people are coming to visit.
  • LADY LI... Buoyant... 2012/06/04 00:35:11
    LADY LIBERTY SILLY WORDSMITH
    +1
    DON'T BE SUPERCILIOUS to OLD PEOPLE!

    NO ONE will be YOUNG FOREVER;

    Even with BOTOX and PLASTIC SURGERIES;

    YOUR TURN WILL COME, YOUNGSTERS-NOW!
  • Buoyant... LADY LI... 2012/06/04 00:39:51
    Buoyant Leadraft
    I'm almost 50! I'll be 70 in a little over 20 years!
    OPS is on it's way!
  • louisa 2012/06/03 19:08:03
    Yes
    louisa
    +3
    i mean its not a bad smell. its just different
  • TasselLady 2012/06/03 18:43:26
    Yes
    TasselLady
    +1
    Yes, it is.
  • Hannie 2012/06/03 17:42:18
    Yes
    Hannie
    +1
    Just by the extreme simple way they live, I think it just starts by the soapy smelling fragrance they use because they like the smell of it.
  • words t... Hannie 2012/06/03 22:05:58
    words to live by
    +2
    I have passed young and old people in stores. There is a perfume out there that gags me. I am temped to ask them what the name of it is.
  • Hannie words t... 2012/06/04 00:47:10
    Hannie
    For the temptation to burn the plant down?
  • Alexis82 2012/06/03 17:32:42
    Yes
    Alexis82
    +1
    I haven't been proven wrong.
  • LADY LI... Alexis82 2012/06/04 00:20:09
    LADY LIBERTY SILLY WORDSMITH
    +1
    DON'T BE CONDESCENDING to OLD PEOPLE!

    NO ONE will be YOUNG FOREVER;

    Even with BOTOX and PLASTIC SURGERIES;

    YOUR TURN WILL COME, YOUNGSTERS-NOW!
  • words t... Alexis82 2012/06/04 00:55:42
    words to live by
    You what?
  • peggy 2012/06/03 15:45:04
    No
    peggy
    +2
    Depends ...............haha
  • words t... peggy 2012/06/03 22:06:38
  • amazinggrace 2012/06/03 15:31:51
    Yes
    amazinggrace
    +2
    It is due to glandular changes as the body ages.
  • Kurbdog amazing... 2012/06/03 23:25:44 (edited)
  • amazing... Kurbdog 2012/06/04 14:41:48
  • shadow76 2012/06/03 12:56:38
    No
    shadow76
    +1
    It is because they scare most people who never interact with them or treat them like people. I have always enjoyed their stories.
  • Soms Cougli 2012/06/03 09:27:30
    Yes
    Soms Cougli
    +1
    I KNEW IT.
  • Anonymouse BN-0 ~bibbityboo~ 2012/06/03 08:32:54
    Yes
    Anonymouse BN-0 ~bibbityboo~
    +2
    Urine and mothballs...
  • words t... Anonymo... 2012/06/03 22:11:11
    words to live by
    +1
    Do they still make mothballs?
  • Kurbdog words t... 2012/06/03 23:28:37
    Kurbdog
    +1
    Yes, but they are very small and hard to harvest! moths balls
  • words t... Kurbdog 2012/06/04 01:02:15
  • LADY LI... Anonymo... 2012/06/04 00:42:31
    LADY LIBERTY SILLY WORDSMITH
    DON'T BE SUPERCILIOUS to OLD PEOPLE!

    NO ONE will be YOUNG FOREVER;

    Even with BOTOX and PLASTIC SURGERIES;

    YOUR TURN WILL COME, YOUNGSTERS-NOW!
  • Jessica 2012/06/03 07:44:31 (edited)
    Yes
    Jessica
    +1
    But it isn't the bad kind be being described in the article. I associate powders, flowers, and musky scents with old people.
  • Packersgirl 2012/06/03 06:53:55
    Yes
    Packersgirl
    +2
    i used to sing at nursing homes every wednesday with my church group, and it smells like eggs. sorry old people, its not ur fault and i love ya, but....
  • LADY LI... Packers... 2012/06/04 00:55:24
    LADY LIBERTY SILLY WORDSMITH
    SOMEHOW, YOU SOUND INSINCERE! You ARE INSINCERE. Sorry, Packgirl,

    it's NOT YOUR FAULT and I love ya, but.... HYPOCRITE!
  • Packers... LADY LI... 2012/06/04 01:07:52
    Packersgirl
    call me what u want. thats just the way i speak so whatever

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