Parkinson’s disease is one of the world’s most crippling illnesses. It can leave you not only shaking uncontrollably, but it can affect how you sleep, walk, eat, and overall function. It has impacted millions of people’s lives, including those of Muhammad Ali, Michael J. Fox, Ozzy Osbourne, and Neil Diamond. The worst part about is there’s no cure. No one truly knows when one becomes inflicted with such a horrible disease. But Joy Milne had a unique power in that she could sense when someone had it–with her nose. In 1995, Joy’s husband became inflicted with Parkinson’s Disease. Milne knew immediately something was wrong because she noticed a distinct change in his smell. After he was diagnosed with this and they attended a Parkinson’s support group, she noticed a similar smell in other patients with the disease.  The strange part was nobody else had this unusual and mysterious sense–only Joy. She participated in a study that only verified that what she smelled was accurate.  The ability to catch signs of the disease at the early stages is a huge breakthrough for Parkinson’s victims. But does having this specific smell mean you have Parkinson’s disease or is it still all up in the air? Joy Milne. Photo by Chris Watt Milne’s Powerful Scent For the longest time, Joy Milne had a power that she didn’t even know about. It came to the forefront in the most unfortunate of ways. Milne noticed one day that her husband, Les, had an altered scent. “He always had a lovely male musk smell,” Joy said. “Then all of a sudden, one day, his lovely male musk smell had got this overpowering sort of nasty yeast smell.” Joy thought it was something from her husband’s hospital where he worked. She got on him to shower, but even when he did, the smell wasn’t changing. “I kept saying to him, ‘Look, you know, you’re not washing enough,’” Joy said. Weeks, months, and even years went by and Les continued to have this different smell. Joy constantly nagged at her husband to the point where he was getting upset about her getting on him about his odor. Joy also noticed a change in how he acted, citing more concerns. “It was his personality, his character. He began to change. He was more moody. He wasn’t as tolerant,” Joy said. The marriage deteriorated as Les acted completely abnormal. One night, he woke up in the middle of the night and began shaking Joy and attacking her. While he didn’t realize he was doing it, Joy told him he needed some sort of attention and begged him to get checked out, thinking he may have a brain tumor. Les agreed and he was evaluated. When the doctor came back with the test results, he gave him the grave news: he had Parkinson’s disease. Both Joy and her husband went to a Parkinson’s support group some time later where other Parkinson’s patients were. It was there that Joy noticed a similar smell in all of the other individuals who had the disease, a musty and greasy odor.  “I realized for some people it smelled stronger and for other people, it didn’t smell so strong,” Joy said. The Study Joy realized there may be something to the smell, and if proven successful, it could be a significant breakthrough in the disease. If Parkinson’s is caught early enough, while it can’t be cured, it is more treatable and less severe for much of one’s life.  After sharing her findings with the Charity Parkinson’s UK medical team, Edinburgh University called her to assess her unique skill and to see if there was something to this power. As a way to test her, the control team at Edinburgh brought out 12 patients, six of whom had Parkinson’s disease and six who did not.  “We had them wear a t-shirt for a day then retrieved the t-shirts, bagged them, and coded them,” Dr. Tilo Kunath said. “Her job was to tell us who had Parkinson’s and who didn’t.” When the test was done, Joy shared her findings and got all but one person correct. The results were quite impressive in that she successfully determined 11 of the 12 people. However, Joy was adamant that one of the participants, a control room member, had Parkinson’s even though he was one of the members in the study who was listed as not having it. Eight months later, the control room man who was not listed as one of the “yes’s” came forth and said he had tested positive for Parkinson’s disease. Joy, therefore, actually got 12 out of 12 correct. Parkinson’s Breakthrough or Coincidence? According to scientists, a change in skin condition for people with early signs of Parkinson’s leads to an altered scent. It’s not something that the normal human can detect; in fact, it takes a special someone who can sense it, that person being Joy. After the small study, a larger one was done with more than 250 people to try and find early components of Parkinson’s. Joy took part in it and was able to help scientists in many different areas. “We really want to know what is behind this and what are the molecules. And then can the molecules be used as some sort of diagnostic test?” Dr. Kunath said. “Imagine a society where you could detect such a devastating condition before it’s causing problems and then prevent the problems from even occurring.” Scientists, though, are adamant that a change in smell isn’t an automatic indication one has Parkinson’s. Someone’s change in diet, job, or age can also lead to odor changes, not necessarily a sign they have the disease. Thus, while being able to have the power to smell a potential disease is a huge breakthrough, it doesn’t automatically mean one is ill. Still, researchers worldwide have reached out to Joy and asked her to help them with their own studies and research, convinced that this superpower is a game-changer for Parkinson’s. With her help, it can impact millions of people’s lives and make it easier to treat the disease before it becomes more serious.The post The Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson’s first appeared on History Defined.

Plus, 4 budget-friendly finds I love for entertaining and outings. READ MORE...

OneBlood, a non-profit blood bank serving hundreds of hospitals across the southeastern United States, experienced a ransomware attack. “OneBlood serves 355 hospitals across Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia,” The Epoch Times stated. The event impacted its software system and slowed down operations. “OneBlood takes the security of our network extremely seriously. Our team reacted quickly to assess our systems and began an investigation to confirm the full nature and scope of the event. Our comprehensive response efforts are ongoing and we are working diligently to restore full functionality to our systems as expeditiously as possible,” Susan Forbes, OneBlood senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations, said in a press release. Per OneBlood: Although OneBlood remains operational and continues to collect, test and distribute blood, they are operating at a significantly reduced capacity. “We have implemented manual processes and procedures to remain operational. Manual processes take significantly longer to perform and impacts inventory availability. In an effort to further manage the blood supply we have asked the more than 250 hospitals we serve to activate their critical blood shortage protocols and to remain in that status for the time being,” said Forbes. To help augment their supply the national blood community is rallying to assist OneBlood and the hospitals and patients it serves. Blood centers across the country are sending blood and platelets to OneBlood, and the AABB Disaster Task Force is coordinating national resources to assist with additional blood products being sent to OneBlood. All blood types are needed, but there is an urgent need for O Positive, O Negative and Platelet donations. “The blood supply cannot be taken for granted. The situation we are dealing with is ongoing. If you are eligible to donate, we urge you to please make an appointment to donate as soon as possible,” said Forbes. OneBlood says it’s operating at a ‘significant reduced capacity’ amid ‘ransomware event:’ pic.twitter.com/QfAWL9WszX — Matthew McClellan FOX 13 (@mcclellantv) July 31, 2024 One of the largest US blood centers, #OneBlood, is operating at reduced capacity due to a ransomware attack, causing significant impacts on inventory availability. Hospitals served by OneBlood have been asked to activate critical blood shortage protocols. https://t.co/fqzRehnQt6 — The Record From Recorded Future News (@TheRecord_Media) July 31, 2024 Hackers Attack US Blood Bank, More Than 250 Hospitals Asked To Activate Blood Shortage Protocols https://t.co/a0ZqWoQktg — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2024 From The Epoch Times: The ransomware attack on OneBlood is the latest in a series of hacking attempts targeting U.S. health care facilities. In February, threat actors targeted health insurance company UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare unit. The company determined the attack may have compromised certain personal identifiable information and protected health details. During a House hearing in May, the company’s CEO said an estimated one-third of Americans could have had their sensitive health information leaked to the dark web. He said the company paid the hackers $22 million in bitcoin as ransom. A data breach of health care service provider Kaiser Permanente in April is estimated to have affected roughly 13.4 million individuals. A June report by data security company SecurityScorecard pointed out that 35 percent of third-party data breaches in the United States last year affected health care organizations, “outpacing every other sector.” “The supplier ecosystem is a highly desirable target for ransomware groups. Attackers can infiltrate hundreds of organizations through a single vulnerability without being detected,” it said. WATCH:

Ten years ago, the Islamic State terrorist group inflicted genocide and mass displacement on the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in northern Iraq. Thousands returned home this year at the urging of the Iraqi government. But as VOA’s Kawa Omar reports, many now live in sweltering tents on their ruined properties.

The New Zealand government’s new “pandemic plan” grants police the power to “detain and restrain” members of the public for forced vaccinations, among a raft of new authoritarian measures. The “framework for action” was updated [...] The post New Zealand Police Given Power to Restrain Citizens For Forced Vaccinations Under New ‘Pandemic Plan’ appeared first on The People's Voice.