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https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/old-person-smell-body-odour-sweat-2-nonenal-ageing-383531 Why does evolution create this unique odour in seniors? And yes, it's a thing. Even the Japanese have a word for it. You don’t have to have a canine’s superior olfactory system to know that we emit different odours at different stages of our lives. Babies, for instance, naturally smell pleasant even as they produce explosive diapers and regurgitated milk. During puberty, it's what smells like teen spirit – usually reminiscent of onion and sweat – that is likely to be the scent du jour. Your personal smell-scape changes again in your senior years and it’s not because you’ve adopted a new cologne or perfume. We’re talking about the “old person smell”, which you might have caught whiffs of in the just-vacated MRT seat, lift, taxi interior or if you live with elderly parents or grandparents: An amalgamation of Axe brand oil, moth balls and an unmistakable greasy, grassy odour. The smell is so distinct that the Japanese even has a term for it: Kareishu, which means the smell of gaining years. WHAT CREATES BODY ODOUR IN THE FIRST PLACE? Your personal brand of odour comes down to the sweat and substances that your body produces, said Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng, Science Centre Board’s chief executive. Generally, you have two kinds of sweat glands: Apocrine sweat glands (in hair-bearing areas such as the armpits and genital area) and eccrine sweat glands (everywhere on the body, including the palms and soles). “Apocrine sweat tends to contain more lipids and proteins, while eccrine sweat is mostly composed of water and electrolytes,” he said. “When bacteria break down these substances, the resulting odours can vary. Bacterial action on the lipids and proteins in apocrine sweat leads to the characteristic body odour.” If you're wondering what lipids are, they are an ingredient in sebum, the same pimple-causing stuff you’ve been fighting in your adolescent and adult life. “Sebum primarily comprises lipids, triglycerides, wax esters, squalene and cellular debris. When exposed to air and bacteria, these components can undergo oxidation and breakdown, resulting in a slightly oily and sometimes musty smell,” said Assoc Prof Lim. HOW DOES THE “OLD PERSON SMELL” COME ABOUT? A few things can give rise to this unique odour; one of which is 2-nonenal. A study on subjects between the ages of 26 and 75, noted that this colourless, insoluble, unsaturated aldehyde was detected only in those aged 40 years and older. Incidentally, 2-nonenal is the same compound found in aged beer and buckwheat, and has been described to smell greasy and grassy like fat and cucumber. The smell-inducing 2-nonenal is a by-product of omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid after oxidation, said dermatologist Dr Eileen Tan from Eileen Tan Skin Clinic & Associates, Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital. "Age-related body odour likely has nothing to do with personal hygiene," said Dr Tan. According to the study, omega-7 monounsaturated fatty acid’s level in skin-surface lipids is found to increase up to six times with age. However, the cause of the increase is not clear. Another factor is sweating less. If there’s one good thing that comes out of getting older, it’s that you’ll sweat less, according to a 2021 study published in Skin Research And Technology by the International University of Health and Welfare in Narita, Japan. This could be caused by the age-related loss of collagen, which means your skin isn’t able to prop itself up as well as before. As a result, the sweat glands get compressed against the skin’s surface, making it harder for sweat to come out. (On a side note, this is also why seniors tend to suffer from heat exhaustion as they don’t sweat as much as younger people to regulate their bodies’ temperature.) Less sweat means less bacterial action, which then affects your body's odour. Furthermore, sebum production may also “decrease or change in composition, contributing to an altered scent”, said Assoc Prof Lim. These bodily changes, combined with diet, health conditions, medications and genetics, contribute to the unique “old person smell” characterised by “a more musty or stale scent”, he said. “The distinct scent typically becomes noticeable in later adulthood, around 60 years old or older” and can be set off and intensified by those aforementioned factors, said Assoc Prof Lim. WHAT’S THE EVOLUTIONARY PURPOSE OF THE "OLD PERSON SMELL"? Much like how we try to guess someone’s age by studying their appearance for physical attributes such as wrinkles and grey hair, odour could be another thing we unconsciously sniff out. In a study by Professor Johan Lundstrom, a brain science and cognitive psychologist from Monell Chemical Senses Center, volunteers were able to pick out the middle-agers based on smell alone. “It might be a way to distinguish the sick from the healthy – not overt sickness but underlying cell decay," said Prof Lundstrom. "The older we get, the more natural decay we have. But no one really knows why animals or people have this ability." Assoc Prof Lim agreed that the old person smell is evolution’s way to signal ageing and health. “Some theories suggest it could play a role in signalling social behaviours potentially linked to age-related immune changes.” CAN WE MINIMISE IT? Ageism may play a role in discriminating against the old people smell. In fact, the first study highlighted in this article found that people generally didn’t mind the odour and even found it less unpleasant and less intense than younger individuals and middle-agers – until they were told that the odour came from older people. Incidentally, the test subjects found that middle-aged men smelled the worst. If you are bothered by the smell, “maintaining a balanced diet rich in antioxidants and staying hydrated may help reduce the intensity of the old person smell”, said Assoc Prof Lim. “Additionally, using skincare products that promote skin health and moisture retention can be beneficial.” "Any scented products will help to mask the smell", said Dr Tan. Or try soaps that contain tannin-rich persimmon extract and let us know; it is said to dissolve 2-nonenal and help in eliminating odour. Or simply rock your personal brand of eau de toilette.

http://www.plushasia.com/media_photo/23275 Singapore's million-dollar club grows Singapore - More people made it to the millionaires club last year, with 4,220 taxpayers having assessable income of more than $1 million each. Their combined income came to $8.06 billion, according to the annual report of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) released on Thursday. They forked out $1.49 billion in income tax. In 2011, in comparison, there were 3,870 people in this group and they earned $7.45 billion. These could be Singaporeans, permanent residents or foreigners. A further 12,921 people earned between $500,000 and $1 million each last year, up from 11,092 people in 2011. Iras collected 7.6 per cent more cash in its latest financial year, as the economy grew moderately and the buoyant property market yielded more in stamp duty collection. Total taxes collected came to $41.4 billion for the 12 months to March 31, up from $38.4 billion in the year before, said The money made up 74.1 per cent of all operating revenue for the Government. The remainder was collected by other agencies for other types of payments - such as certificates of entitlement and Electronic Road Pricing. Iras' collections include corporate taxes, individual income taxes, goods and services tax (GST), stamp duties, property tax and betting taxes. For the financial year, corporate income tax grew 5.8 per cent to $12.8 billion, owing to improved company profits. Individual income tax collection grew by 12.2 per cent to $7.7 billion, due to higher salaries and the cessation of one-off personal income tax rebates given earlier for income earned in 2011. GST collection rose by 4 per cent to $9 billion, in line with the moderate growth in private consumption expenditure. Stamp duty collections jumped 35.7 per cent to $4.3 billion. The rise was due to the introduction of the additional buyer's stamp duty in December 2011 - intended to cool the property market - and more property transactions. Property tax collection fell by 3.1 per cent to $3.8 billion, due to an earlier change in some policies that affected the timing of collection of the taxes. The changes had led to more collections in the previous financial year - April 2011 to March last year. Taxes from betting activities dipped by 2.9 per cent to $2.3 billion. This included duties on Singapore Pools bets like 4D, Toto, Big Sweep and sports betting, and levies on the casino operations of the two integrated resorts. Iras also highlighted its high level of tax compliance - essentially, that almost all parties pay their taxes on time. Tax arrears declined to a record low of 0.79 per cent, among the lowest in the world. "Our ongoing efforts to promote a high level of voluntary compliance have resulted in more individuals and businesses filing their tax returns and paying taxes on time," said Dr Tan Kim Siew, Commissioner of Inland Revenue. "On-time filing rates have improved across all tax types." One of the taxpayers who name himself Throttle says "yes this year is a good year, many tables to be cleaned, my income shoot high high." Throttle who reported his annual income for more than has one million singapore dollar has decided to give himself a holiday break to London, UK.

What kind of air re freshener have you tried to put in your car? I have tried. . . Does smell good. Value for money. Smell too strong, and block my air-con vent. Don't really like. Best fragrances ever. Like the smell. But have to change every few days. Park in open-space, so leave dries up very fast. Bought this during the petexpo2014, after 2 days no more smell alrd. But still in my car for keepsake purpose. Anyone have better or more powerful air refreshener to share????

Any method to remove bad smell.

Bought some fishes last Sat morning including a few pc of Salmon. While cooking found the Salmon lost and tried searching the car for the fish after notising some fishy smell. Could'nt find until Monday morning when the fishy stench overcome the whole car. The pack of salmon had been reduced to almost white liquid form, . Luckily the bag still intact without the liquid doozing out. Any low cost, fast & excellent method to get rid of the Fishy smell ? I did try to wind down all windows, open air vent and full blast on the go. Also used Dettol spray and normal charcoal. Any other good methods ? Thanks !

Hi all. Need some help with this. The previous owner of the car I'd bought, put a lot of perfume in it. Besides the usual Ambi-Pur at the aircon vents, there was a reed diffuser placed in the rear passenger door magazine pocket ... like this: Strong perfume smell is present whenever I come to the car and open the door, but the smell feels stronger when I switch on the aircon - I'd feel cold, perfumed wind blowing in my face. I suspect the smell is now trapped in the aircon system. What can I do to remove the smell? Would sending the car for aircon evaporator coil cleaning help? If so, who should I send the car to for this?

I am thinking of bidding for an auction car. Some of the cars, although quite new, has intensive smell in the interior. I am not sure if it is cigarette smell. Are there anyone providing service to get rid of this smell? I think it is too much to ask for new car smell... :)

Hi guys, my pet dog accidentally peed in the rear seat (my fault for not walking her earlier). I used tissue to soak the urine from the seat (leather seat) and clean it. The next day when I came to the car, there was a strong smell. Can’t really pinpoint where the smell is coming from but it’s at the rear seat. Realised that some parts of the seat were made of fabric (those sections for the seat belt buckle and child seat Anchor Point). Suspect the urine might have gone through these fabric parts and soaked and lying at the underneath of the seat hence giving out the smell. Tried the following: 1) vacuuming the area 2) fabreeze 3) baking soda on the seat overnight 4) charcoal deodarizer with fragrance gel The first 3 did not help much. The deodorizer help in masking the smell (since it has fragrance) but I’m still able to smell the pungent smell now and then. I have tried spraying fabreeze on the suspected areas lots of times. But it doesn’t help much. When open the car door, I can still smell abit of the pungent smell. Is it possible that the urine might have seeped through the leather seat and hence the smell is coming from inside the leather? If that’s the case, any advice on how to remove the smell from the leather seat? Thanks in advance. Anyway the car is only 4 months old

Understand this topic is not that relevant over here because most of us drive with windows wound up. And most often than not we are trying to get away from bad smell when on the road, like behind a garbage truck or bus. But I think most would not believe that we do have a road in Singapore that smell great, albeit only for a few months per year I believe, and it stretches over more than 10km! If in a garden setting then that would be nothing to crow about haha. And most of us would not have noticed it anyway unless we are insane enough to punish ourselves by riding over the stretch of road, which will mean cycling for more than 40km each trip at least. Ok I am talking about this notorious Changi Coastal Road which many of us would avoid like plague as there seems to be no reason to get there unless we are going to the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal for some business. I have been pounding this stretch of road in recent months every weekend from Bedok Jetty vicinity to hit Changi Point hawker center for a treat of refreshing coconut before pushing myself back. Not a lot but definitely good exercise nonetheless. And roughly 2 weeks ago I started to smell some strong fragrance along the stretch while I was pushing myself hard and catching breath. Then I realised that some wise guy in NPark had planted some flowering trees alternately along the whole stretch of road! So when the small trees started to bloom recently, the air around the stretch of road smell really nice, much like the common garden plant that smell great with tiny white flowers. So if you want to try something different, why not try cycle the road for a change. The scenery sucks, but the smell is great. Better hurry while it last haha.

hi Bros, any advice to regards to the above mentioned situation? when it rev to 3.5k rpm will have this smell? my frds say need to flush my engine... Is it true?

my car use to smell of new leather smell even through after 2 yrs driving until recently a can of paint pour into my passenger seat carpet , now the paint smell still stay even after i change the whole carpet, what can i do?

Hi, anyone living near sengkang can smell a very pungent smell in the air? Anyone know why?

Anyone used any "new car smell" products before? Came across this Chemical Guys New Car Smell spray. Is it any good? https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-AIR-101-16-Freshener-Eliminator/dp/B002J7VX4Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502204539&sr=8-2&keywords=chemical+guys+new+car+smell PS: I am not affliated to the product

Anyone try this product before - Zielonka Car comfort and Get Rid of Cigarette & Other Smell in Car

Hi, I have juz given the walls of my toilet a fresh coat of paint like 8 days ago, but the fresh paint smell is still ard... Anyone out there has effective method of getting rid of the smell? Tks in adv...

Guys, Check with you that I get this sourish smell when you first turn on the air-con early in the morning but when the compressor kicks in, the smell is gone. I have read in this forum that you need to clean the air-con system by using those gas can type of cleaner, does that really help? After cleaning, you need to turn off air-con and open ventilation vent to let outside air come in when you reach your carpark 1-2 minutes before, is that true?

Numerous studies have shown that the so-called new car smell

Anybody noticed strong burnt rubber smell in the air ? Around telok blangah area

Hi. My car having a chemical/gas-like smell when entering the car before even start-up. This smells is worst during morning when first open car. Seems like no oil leak. Went to two workshop, they say most likely is cooling coil problem. Need to change the coil which cost quite ex. I abit not comvince as they only told me this solution by hearing my problem and smell. Cos i understand that for cooling coil, there's no way to check from exterior. So wondering is there anybody else having the same problem before or isit due to others problem? Before i proceed to replace the cooling coil which i dunno whether isit the cause of the problem. And I hd just change a new conpressor and filter a mths ago. Thanks.

Hi Guys, Why does car aircon give a sourish smell especially in the morning after parked overnight??? Some say this is due to damped n mouldy parts in the aircon system, is it correct??...... Some advise to turn of the aircon compressor (but leave the blower runnning) say 5 minutes before reaching home so that cold/moist air in the system can be 'dried' up before we part our cars overnight......... i tried it but the sourish smell is still there. It happens with my old car and also 1 month old car. Why??? Thanks

Was watching the Ch8 news. Water in Yishun is smelly and rashes are formed on skin after the water has been used for bathing. Any folks here affected?

Hi guys, I need advise from u guys on how to remove rubber smell inside my car. Few months back, i brought a new set of 3A carpet for my car but the problem is, i couldn't remove the rubber smell from the carpets. I tried a few ways but still couldn't help. I had tried buying those air-con cleaner selling at esso which come in green or yellow can oso useless. I even brought a few type of air-freshers to cover up the smell but it only last for the first few days den the smell reuturn again. I had oso tried soaking the carpets with car shampoo oso couldn't help!! I thought the smell will go out itself after a few months of usage but i'm wrong.. Anyone of ur has the similar type of carpets n share the same experience? How do u guys remove the rubber smell permanent? The smell is kinda strong when u haf park ur car overnight but the smell will go off when u start driving..

Anyone has any idea what is their cleaning process? All these second hand cars at the merc and BMW preowned showrooms smell like brand new cars!

Dear guys, Do you experience exhaust smell from your Mini countryman? My sis countryman bought slightly less than a year has this exhaust smell. It's not always but on and off. Went back to agent but couldn't detect anything. Appreciate any feedback. Tks!

Since this morning has be smelling strong crude oil smell in Seng Kang. Any one in seng Kang smell it? Is there any tanker leak?