All right, no more complaining about “old people smell”—according to George Preti, it doesn’t exist.
Preti, a scent expert at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, became incensed at 2001 Japanese study concluding that the skin of people over 40 produces more chemicals with an unpleasant or greasy odor. Preti, being over 40 himself, set out to disprove that idea.
So he and his team asked a set of 25 volunteers to walk up and down the stairs until they got sweaty; then the scientists used funnels to collect the sweat of the subjects’ backs. Preti said the sweat of people over 40 had higher concentrations of a few chemicals compared to that of younger people, but the chemicals in question didn’t carry a strong smell. And, he said, he found none of the greasy-smelling chemical that the Japanese scientists found.
Why the difference in the studies? Fish, Preti says. The seafood-heavy Japanese diet could cause a buildup of unsaturated fatty acids, and other chemicals which would speed the oxidation of those acids. Of course, we won’t have to worry about that if seafood disappears, as some scientists predict.
Image: iStockphoto
July 28th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Science can’t find something that’s so obviously there… so it’s not based on sweat, it’s based on diet, and medication, and a house where the couch hasn’t been moved (or sat on) since 1974.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:18 am
its not that they smell, its the things they do and what they own, it all smells the same. smells like DEATH, i hate it.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Actually I’m beginning to get terrified that I will start to smell like that, now that I have turned 60.
Hope someone comes up with some kind of antidote. As long as my brain works, I will continue to wash daily, keep clothes clean, change my bed regularly etc etc, but it might not be enough. HELP!
November 19th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
SORRY! YOUR TEST RESULTS ARE SO VERY WRONG! MY NOSE DOESN’T LIE!
THEY STINK! I HAVE WORKED WITH ENOUGH SENIORS TO KNOW! NO MATTER HOW CLEAN THEY ARE, OLD PEOPLE HAVE A DI-STINK-ED ODOR!
November 19th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I gotta say that it may not be their diet as much as what they put on their bodies. I live w/my father-in-law and he stinks. His house stunk when we moved in, and he leaves an awful smell in my car. Febreze helps my car and since we moved in, his house doesn’t smell as bad because I clean it regularly and keep his bedroom door closed. His bedroom and bathroom still stink and I clean them regularly as well. Their sense of smell has gone down the tubes and so they tend to pile on stuff until they can smell it. At least he does and he doesn’t even realize how awful he smells. He doesn’t smell of lots of odors just old smell. Just gross.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
They do have an odor, but I can’t quite call it though. It’s a cross between dead flesh and muskiness. Pew!
November 20th, 2008 at 12:15 am
It seems we all know the smell. Maybe, the person doing the test. HE!himself is an old guy. Hay, go change your clothes!!LOL…
November 20th, 2008 at 12:25 am
ANYWAY I SAY THEY DO (SOME) “THEY HAVE AN ODOR” SWEAT! AND THEY SAY THE DONT SWEAT! HA! YES THEY DO I WORK IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD AND BROTHER YES THEY DO! THEY DONT REALIZE THEY STILL SWEAT! AND THEY DONT LIKE TO SHOWER OFTEN OR PUT ON DEORDERANT! AND OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THERE GLANDS OMIT OIL AND IT STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN IF NOT SCRAPPED OFF I MEAN REALLY SCRAPPED OFF WITH A SCRUBBY OR LUFFA ITS PRETTY STINKY YA’LL AND ITS REALLY,REALLY SAD THAT NO ONE HAS THE BRASS TO TELL THEM TO THERE FACE YOU ARE SWEATY AND NEED TO BE CLEANSED 2X3 TIMES A WEEK!! LIVING IN THE DESERT EVEN OR VAST ALASKA THEY SWEAT EVERYWHERE. THANK YOU
November 30th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
i think old people have weak badders and pee alittle when they cough or get up from a chair. their furniture gets some pee on it, as time goes on there more pee and the pee gets old and stinks. Old peoples house smell like old pee.
December 18th, 2008 at 11:37 am
First, unless this article is not representing his work very well (a good possibility), George Preti is not a very good scientist. Are we meant to believe that he concludes definitively that something doesn’t exist from a single null result?
Second, since when is over 4o old? When people think of old-person smells they are talking about at least 60, if not 70 and above. When people get that age they use various products that younger people don’t, like depends, dentures, and mothballs. They also have more decay in their mouth than younger people, which obviously can’t smell nice. When I get to 60 yrs, I’m just going to off myself.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:43 pm
After reading all of these comments, I laughed so hard I almost pee’d. I am turning 60 in 2 weeks. I’m looking forward to asking young friends if I have started to smell. If I have, I will take Aaron’s advice and off myself.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:46 am
I too am considering offing myself at 60 if old-people-smell takes hold. Oh, and George Preti’s results prove nothing. This research is half-hearted and old people do have the funk. I’ve smelled it. It smells like tennis balls and attics.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:11 pm
This is a BS “study”. Old people smell (not all of them) and they all have that same smell.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Listen the reason old people or there homes have a smell is because of the urine that either comes out of the body. Gets on stuff and not cleaned properly as in nursing home or at old peoples homes where they used old cleaning products. That contained ammonia this was the number one cleaning aid for years and years also ammonia is found in urine
May 3rd, 2009 at 6:39 pm
I agree, older people (after the age of 70) have a smell that is different than younger people. I like to call it “The smell of impending death” to me, it kind of smells like Chanel No. 19. But, it’s logical.
Hormones make your body smell a certain way. Not everyone was born with the receptors to sense certain hormones by smell. Androstenone. Some people are repulsed by it, others can’t smell it at all.
I was tested. I can smell androstenone. I’ve also been in a room full of older people exercising…and there is a smell. It’s old-person smell.
Why is it so strange to believe that old-person-smell exists? Most people can tell the difference between young man sweat from young woman sweat. I can even smell when my female friends are menstruating. That hormone (or lack of hormone) comes off of them like perfume. I’ve smelled it on myself, for sure.
Old-person-smell exists, because so many people say it exists. To me, it still smells like Chanel No. 19.
May 16th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Old people do have the funk and no one I know can put their finger on where it comes from or describe it precisely. I couldn’t handle visiting my grandmother’s house. No matter how sweet she was I couldn’t think about anything but what part of her body was decaying and causing that eye-watering, stick to the roof of your mouth, make you vomit odor. I’ve worked with old people and everyone my age could smell it, it does exist. I now live in Japan and the old people here smell exactly the same as the old people in the states. Old folk funk is universal.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Here’s what some kiddies on the streets of NYC had to say about it.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid900837105?bclid=900668361&bctid=1432754106
ihateyoungpeople (dot) com
July 19th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
The posters are 100% right (forget George P he must be 80 himself) I remember this “smell”
from my grandmas back when I was a little one. Its like a sickly sweet odor, I didnt
mind it too much back then as i loved my grammy, but i did notice too that random visits to old peoples homes or apartments also had that smell. I have Googled the topic & a Japanese researcher determined that everybody secretes this Fatty Acid through our pores, think its called Palmyric acid & related to a fatty acid in macadamia nuts. After the age of 70 the secretion of this stuff through the pores goes off the charts so to speak. Its so bad that all the old persons clothes though clean will have the odor, the bedding & curtains in the room too
I think dust in the room captures this fatty acid so its in the curtains, lampshades, windows
that maybe dusty. I have my 80 yr mom in law living with us and sure enough she stinks. I have to fight to get her in the shower & sneak out her clothes to wash, she says they are clean! (Yeah, clean but stinky) My daughter helps me at shower time & I have told her that she is to tell me when my turn comes around & I will not be obnoxious & hateful like my mother in law is about people who want to help you be socially presentable
by giving you a shower. We use AXE mans liquid soap on her heavy duty version.
I have found the best success at combating this is “Oust” citrus spray, which I spray in the air, on the bedding , on the curtains etc. “Oh I wash up everynight” she tells me! “well are you an octopus who washes your back, your feet, your hair” Even the wash cloth & towel , shes done with them & they are on towel rack & emit this odor
So its 24/7 trying to keep a handle on this. Have read though on the net that “Citrusy” fragrances are the best to combat this. Japan perfume company even has a line of pricey items to combat the fatty acid smell & its citrus based, spray perfume is $120. thats right one hundred twenty bucks for an ounce. I may spend some of her SS check on a bottle of this stuff. Google “old people smell” info is out there.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Old bodies smell because they have a different hormonal content and chemical components overall. It’s not even a bad smell, it’s a very specific smell. The skin is the main factor – old people’s skin is very differner from younger ones, even when it’s clean, it’s no longer has the same smell as it was before.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:04 am
This is INTERESTING! I was actually looking for articles on GOOGLE as to why “old people overeat, rather indulge on sweets.” Then I found this. Listen, my Grandma who passed in 95, was 71, my parents are now pushing their 70s, and THEY DONT STINK. But, I have to be honest, my Great-Grandpa who was 94 when he passed in the early 90s did emit THAT SMELL. It is a REAL PHENOMENON. The smell is real. But, I think the answer is RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES — Pun intended!
Must folks on here have all said the same thing, how their older relatives DON’T LIKE TO SHOWER OR BATHE. Or, they take those “quickie wash ups.” And, the realities are, if you don’t thoroughly wash your tail no matter what age, your behind is going to stink. Young people tend to cleanse not only more thoroughly than older folks, but more regularly – Why?
Younger people are STILL: In school, At Work, Dating, Marrying, Making Babies, Having Sex, Trying to Have Sex, Clubbing, Partying, Socializing, Networking, Hitting the streets, hitting the bars, traveling, vacationing, trying to maintain “attractiveness” either by CHOICE or FORCE. All this translates to a very REAL PHENOMENON — Hygiene at these ages are still RELEVANT. Why? Because a younger person is HIGHLY active in PUBLIC and SOCIAL INTERACTION.
So, many times a young person is showering and bathing regularly, daily and sometimes
twice a day depending on how many times they are hitting the gym, going out with pals,
romancing on dates, attempting to get the job, the promotion at the job, etc.
When you are OLDER many of these things have already been achieved, accomplished and/or lose their relevance. Most older people pass 70, if they are not hip, active, healthy and “still keeping visibly and regularly sociable” LOSE the drive, ambition and motivation of KEEPING UP WITH THEIR HYGIENE.
SOCIAL INTERACTION is the ANTIDOTE to SMELLINESS!
Most old folks tend to stay in the house more, tend to lose many of their friends to death or simply to homebound illnesses, they tend to not aspire 0r desire “long interaction” with social settings or individuals…
All this leads to a DOWNGRADE OF HYGIENE.
Listen, the same holds TRUE for KIDS.
Most kids, especially boys!!! But, sometimes and some girls too!
Are very, very smelly at certain ages! Hormones are changing (like in old folks)
but, while kids “play with each other” they don’t have the “developed” drive or
NEED to keep up hygiene and appearances for the reasons say a young person
in their MID-TEENS (when kids appearances, fashion and hygiene tends to improve)
up to say 35 or 40 year olds.
These ages are the MATING, DATING, MARRYING, SOCIAL AGES, where it is very
critical to maintain GOOD HYGIENE for purposes of ATTRACTION and ADVANCEMENT.
So, in my humble opinion…
Older people have to FIND that PASSION, that DRIVE, THAT MOTIVATION to stay
in “the game of life” keep active, keep social (travel, attend church and religious
gatherings, attend movies, outings, hobbies, plays, artshows, etc.) all this will keep
them MOTIVATED to keep up DAILY, REGULAR GOOD HYGIENE.
But, you can’t “quickie wash” your butt 1 -2 times a week, repeat clothing, stay
locked up indoors NO MATTER WHAT YOUR AGE and expect not to smell!
You have to THOROUGHLY WASH DAILY or at least nothing less than 4 out 7 days, and I mean WASH, a real 20 – 30 MINUTE SHOWER or a 30-45 MINUTE BATH with nice smell goods, bath oils, body washes, etc. regardless of whether you are 5 or 95.
BTW: MY PARENTS ARE VERY SOCIALLY ACTIVE AND “KEEP UP WITH FASHION” these things keep them “young” and smelling FRESH AND CLEAN.
December 17th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
The old people smell is a universally accepted tactic for avoiding lengthy contact with smart-assed, annoying people of all ages.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:49 am
I am inclined to agree with comment #20. Though I am sure that age does have something to do with it, consider this. From the time I moved into a studio apartment when I was 29 to just recently moving out at 31, I noticed a range of smells that went from good to bad and back to good and back to bad. I dated some very clean, hip younger girls and had decent social experiences during that time. I also experienced social disgrace that would make a person either go postal or need long term therapy. On a number of occasions. And at one point when I thought a pair of jeans “probably was not that bad”, it turned out that it really was. I knew it the same as everyone else in the crowd once the heat turned up both literally and emotionally, and the moral is, if the question is there at all, do not enter that social situation no matter how “looked forward to” it is, because you will truly be scarred by it. I overheard one of the 20 something hipsters around me say (with some of my 20 something hipster friends within earshot) “Smells like old people”. And for a 30 yr old that has been into college music for a while, if you think that didn’t make me want to do a murder homicide, well…Guess what I held in common with “old people”? Having been laid off for a number of months, I was highly sedentary. I thought I was cleaning the apartment and living clean constantly enough, but apparently not. Studios , because they are cramped, can be very very aggravating in that smell area. The bottom line is, TAKE SOLACE in the fact that if you are “old”, there is a youngish guy out there that is inevitably called cute whenever he meets a new girl, never has a problem getting a number, and yet certain living conditions and lack of vigilance can have anyone (INCLUDING THIS GUY) possibly permanently scarred, though maybe to a productive end. It does make you paranoid. But I really don’t think that anyone at any age is doomed with some sick enzyme or body chemistry that makes them smell bad. I am glad #20 said something about this, because some of the very idiotic and cruel and inhumane people that have posted things on here should understand how it feels on the other end. I went through it on a few occasions. Luckily when I look in the mirror I see someone that looks very young, many have said 23…But I know what social damning hell and worthlessness feels like related to smell. I originally did the search and thank God I found the #2o post. Let’s all remember that as an organic human being in flesh we all are going to smell like something at any age, because we eat, breathe, sweat, piss, have smells related to our sexual chemistry, etc. The Old Testament has some great books that go into detail on specific rules Moses gave for the tribe camped at Sinai. This is what it is to be human.
As long as you go three or four times beyond your usual routine of house cleaning, laundry cleaning, and hygeine and do it over a long-term basis, you will not feel like a leper. You will not feel like the only dirty smelly bad one in a world or nice wonderful disney sort of androids. If you found this link because you felt bad about yourself and wanted to fix it, read #20 again, work 3 times harder on the areas listed above, and remember that we are about to celebrate the birthday of The One who let himself be incarnate to understand just how complex and basic it is to be here in this form. If all else fails, call to Him for strength and continue in your own efforts. It is smell, and it is transient. Long-term, consistently above-and-beyond, militaristically positive cleaning will bring the change. I’m still getting there myself.
GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE.
January 24th, 2010 at 12:28 am
hey Q, if old people stink on purpose to avoid people it’s not working. check out all the complaints on here!