GERALD S. WILLIAMS / Inquirer Staff Photographer
George Preti smells underarm sample pads, worn by a female patient for two hours. If troubling smells are detected, Preti will analyze the sample further.
Page: 3 of 3 View All
Chemist helps folks whose body odor’s a bit fishy
A Philadelphia chemist helps desperate people who smell like old fish or even marijuana smoke. They have a rare enzyme deficiency.
Others, including a Preti collaborator at Penn, have since found more. Steven Fakharzadeh, an assistant professor of dermatology at the medical school, screens blood samples from Monell patients. Preti's lab also is working on a way to test for the condition in saliva.
Contact staff writer Tom Avril at 215-854-2430 or tavril@phillynews.com.
Some scientists have estimated the disorder to be as common as 1 in 10,000 people. Fakharzadeh says it is too soon to tell.
Meanwhile, Preti pursues the quest with a more personal piece of equipment: his nose. He has better-than-average olfactory powers (a Monell colleague tested him) but insists that bad smells bother him less than most.
That's good, because besides being a leading expert on human body odor, Preti also has studied the stink from large livestock farms.
Even better, he has a sense of humor. He recalls the time he spilled concentrated armpit extract on his shoes and socks. Not realizing the extent of the problem, he then inflicted the smell on fellow SEPTA commuters when riding home. His wife took a sniff, and the shoes got tossed, he says with a smile.
But when it comes to his accidental patients, the chemist is a serious listener.
"People are baring their souls," he says. Some have been coping well while others "curl up in the fetal position and want to die."
Either way, the man with a nose for a rare condition stands ready to help.
Contact staff writer Tom Avril at 215-854-2430 or tavril@phillynews.com.
