The smell of illness. What does the body smell like with this or that pathology?

According to scientists, people choose their soulmate based on body odor. It is believed that it is the sense of smell that allows you to select a partner with the most suitable set of genes. After all, a person is capable of secreting pheromones: substances that arouse interest in the opposite sex. However, there are situations when a particular odor emanating from the body should be perceived as a distress signal. After all, it can indicate the presence of a fairly serious disease. Doctors say that some diseases have their own “flavor”. Exactly how diseases smell and what you should pay attention to when a new smell appears - in the material AiF.ru.

Smell test

Doctors have long ago begun to use the unpleasant aroma emanating from the human body as an option for the primary diagnosis of various diseases. After all, a repulsive amber is a clear signal that metabolic processes have been disrupted. This often occurs against the background of the development of certain pathologies.

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What to do if a child has high acetone

Acetonemia itself is not a disease, but only a signal that a malfunction has occurred in the child’s body. If you find out that your child has high acetone, what should you do? It is necessary to take measures to relieve intoxication and restore glucose levels. This is indicated to us by the chemical smell emanating from the child, which is perceived differently by different people: either solvent, or acetone, or even ripe apples.

What to do if a child has high acetone?

A pediatrician will tell you how to treat high acetone: how to reduce a high temperature with acetone and get rid of other symptoms of acetonemia. Only a doctor can advise how to remove high acetone from a child’s blood. Your doctor may recommend the following steps:

1. The first step is to give your child plenty of fluids. It can be almost anything: compote or tea, alkaline drink (still mineral water). It is good to alternate unsweetened drinks with sweet ones. For these purposes, you can use regular sugar and glucose solution, which is best purchased in ampoules or tablets as prescribed by your doctor.
2. While the body is recovering, it is important to avoid physical activity as much as possible and take care of mental peace.
3. How to reduce high acetone in a child? You should also adjust the diet of a child with high acetone and even temporarily (until the condition is completely stabilized) transfer him to a therapeutic diet.

Does it smell like acetone?

If your sweat smells like acetone, you should check for pathologies such as:

• Various endocrine pathologies that are associated with diabetes mellitus
• Problems with the digestive system
• Liver and kidney disorders
• Human infection with microbes, bacteria and viruses

All this can lead to an imbalance in the body, resulting in general dysfunction. It should be understood that diabetes is the most common cause of acetone body odor. This is associated with the fact that a person develops insulin deficiency. Glucose begins to break down worse, and its excess causes changes in blood composition and deterioration of metabolism: this causes the number of ketone bodies in the body to increase. The body actively removes excess, including through sweat: hence the appearance of a strong acetone amber. It is worth understanding that this condition is fraught with serious health problems and often indicates an approaching diabetic coma.

Also, the smell of acetone can be observed if the kidneys are affected. In this case, in addition to the characteristic “aroma,” the person will exhibit symptoms such as swelling, problems with urination, pain in the lumbar region, increased blood pressure, and the smell of acetone from the mouth.

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Other causes of the problem

Negative symptoms may result from:

• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• damage to blood vessels;
• severe pregnancy;
• infections;
• "fasting" days.

The reasons can be very different and most often, without medical help, a person cannot understand what is wrong. Therefore, you should not self-medicate and experiment with your own health. The most reasonable thing is to see a doctor and get blood and urine tests.

Smell of a cat

There are situations when a person begins to smell of cat feces. In this case, the body also signals about possible problems. For example, the smell of urea appears when:

• Kidney and liver diseases
• Pathologies of the endocrine system and VSD
• Tuberculosis
• Obesity
• Disturbances in the digestive system

Among the common causes of this “aroma” are kidney problems. After all, if their work malfunctions, the entire body as a whole reacts painfully to this. Moreover, you should understand that the smell of urea in this case will be strong, and it will be impossible to cope with it with improvised means: deodorants do not use this.

The problem develops due to the fact that protein breakdown products are excreted through the sebaceous glands. Doctors in this case talk about uricidosis, which can result from chronic nephritis, pyelonephritis and uremia.

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Diagnostic measures

Diagnostic features depend on the preliminary diagnosis. The patient may be asked:

• Pass the UAC and BAK. Based on their results, it will be possible to understand whether there is an inflammatory process and whether the kidneys and liver are functioning normally.
• Donate blood for hormones. First of all, insulin levels are always determined to confirm or deny the presence of diabetes. Women may have their blood taken to determine hCG, progesterone, and estrogen.
• Undergo an ultrasound examination. During an ultrasound, the condition of the kidneys, liver, and pancreas is checked.
• Get a computed tomography scan of the abdomen and an MRI of the brain.

In each specific case, the diagnostic package is unique. A personal approach allows the doctor to immediately make the correct diagnosis and select effective treatment for the patient. The fight against acetone odor is always aimed at eliminating the root cause. Therefore, there cannot be a single scheme for overcoming an uncomfortable symptom.

Smell of vinegar

A person's sweat can sometimes smell like vinegar. It is important to understand that the appearance of such a symptom is accompanied by increased sweating. Among the reasons why this problem may develop:

• Endocrine disorders
• Lack of vitamins D and B
• Infectious and inflammatory diseases of the lungs
• Mastopathy

If we are talking about disruptions in the endocrine system, the body may experience a lack of iodine. This immediately leads to the appearance of an unpleasant odor. It is quite possible to recognize tuberculosis by the vinegary odor from the body, because in this case, symptoms such as severe cough, fatigue, weakness and fever will appear. Women are not recommended to ignore such a smell: it can indicate serious problems with the breasts.

Child's diet with elevated acetone

If a child’s high acetone level has already manifested itself, the child cannot be forced to eat, because in order to digest food, the body requires energy, the source of which is glucose. During an acute condition, the child must be fed in small portions. A diet with high acetone may include porridge with water, crackers, a baked apple, and cereal soup with vegetable broth. If a child has high acetone, the diet should not be a complete absence of food. This maintains acetone in the blood so the child does not have to go hungry. However, even after an acetonemic attack, a healthy diet is recommended for a week.

The high acetone diet is as follows:

• provide small and frequent meals (5-6 times a day);
• exclude fried, spicy and fatty foods from the menu as much as possible;
• Concentrated meat broths are not recommended; bone-based broths are strictly prohibited;
• increase the amount of consumed vegetables and fruits that have undergone heat treatment;
• introduce porridge into the diet;
• increase the amount of lactic acid low-fat products;
• ensure a stable drinking regime (at 1-2 years - about 1 liter of liquid per day, at 3-7 years - 1.2 liters, over 8 years - up to one and a half liters per day).

What can you feed

What to feed a child with high acetone? From the second day after the attack of high acetone, a child with high acetone can eat:

• porridge: rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, corn;
• vegetable broth soups;
• lean meats: rabbit, turkey, beef;
• lean fish;
• fresh vegetables: carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, radishes, onions;
• berries and fruits: grapes, watermelon, apricot, peach, plum, pear, sweet apples;
• nuts;
• dried fruit compote, jelly;
• sugar, honey (in reasonable quantities);
• biscuits, crackers.

What not to eat

If acetone is high in children, it is recommended to exclude foods and dishes that increase the level of blood ketones:

• fatty meats: veal, pork;
• offal: liver, kidneys, heart, tongue;
• some types of fish: sardines, anchovies, sprats, cod;
• rich broths;
• mushrooms, cabbage, tomatoes, legumes;
• citrus fruits, kiwi;
• fat sour cream, cream;
• sausages, frankfurters, smoked meats;
• products containing cocoa;
• sauces: mayonnaise, ketchup, etc.;
• chips, sparkling water, fast food.

Other options

As soon as your body odor has changed, turning into something intolerable, you should visit a doctor as soon as possible. After all, a different smell can indicate various pathologies, some of which are quite difficult to treat.

Recommendations for the prevention of high acetone in a child

To avoid high levels of acetone in a child, as well as to prevent repeated relapses, it is necessary to adhere to the following preventive recommendations:

1. Provide your child with complete and balanced nutrition.
2. Make sure your child does not skip meals or overeat.
3. Monitor the level of physical and emotional stress of the child.
4. Always have something sweet on hand.
5. Keep glucose in ampoules, a glucometer and test strips for high acetone in your first aid kit.

Expert opinion

Mehman Mamedov, professor, doctor of medical sciences, expert of the National Health League:

— The body smells due to various metabolic disorders. For example, due to impaired glucose metabolism, the number of ketone bodies increases and their accumulation on the skin produces an odor. This is typical for decompensated diabetes. Urea odor is end-stage renal failure. The characteristic smell of the skin, as a rule, is a sign of a malfunction of organs associated with metabolism - these are the kidneys, lungs, and liver. Ulcerative-inflammatory skin diseases can also smell.

Diagnostics

The initial examination of patients is carried out by a general practitioner, who, if pathognomonic signs of damage to a certain organ are detected, gives a referral to a highly specialized specialist. To find out why the taste of acetone appeared in the mouth, advanced laboratory tests and modern instrumental studies are prescribed. The most informative in diagnostic terms are:

• Standard blood tests
  . A general blood test evaluates the level of leukocytosis and ESR, which helps to exclude infectious causes of unpleasant taste. A biochemical blood test shows the condition of the liver and biliary system, the degree of decrease in kidney function. In case of disturbances of consciousness, arterial blood gasometry is recommended.
• Determination of hormone levels
  . It is imperative to examine the fasting insulin concentration; to confirm the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, an oral glucose load test and measurement of C-peptide levels and a test for acetone in the urine are important. Young women undergo a pregnancy test, taking into account the amount of estrogen and progesterone, hCG.
• Ultrasonography
  . Targeted ultrasound of the pancreas allows us to identify areas of destructive changes in the parenchyma, cysts or neoplasms that affect insulin synthesis. Using ultrasound, hepatic pathology is diagnosed, and the degree of fibrosis is determined by non-invasive elastometry.
• X-ray imaging
  . Abdominal CT facilitates the differential diagnosis of inflammatory and destructive liver diseases. An MRI of the brain is performed to rule out a neurological cause for the acetone taste in the mouth. Scintigraphy of the thyroid gland is needed to determine the degree of hyperfunction of the organ.
• Invasive methods
  . To confirm the etiological factor of liver damage, a percutaneous or transvenous biopsy is performed, followed by histological examination. A puncture biopsy of the thyroid gland is used to identify acute thyroiditis and autoimmune processes that are accompanied by thyrotoxicosis.

To verify the cause of unpleasant taste sensations when exogenous intoxication is suspected, an extended toxicological blood test is indicative. Virological studies are necessary to diagnose viral hepatitis. For patients with inappropriate behavior, examination by a neurologist or psychiatrist and an EEG are required. In the diagnosis of renal failure, data on GFR and creatinine clearance are informative.

How to get rid of odor

What to do if a person smells of acetone? You can completely get rid of an unpleasant odor only after eliminating its cause. Therefore, first of all, you need to treat the underlying pathology and avoid too strict diets.

The following recommendations from doctors will also help reduce the odor:

1. You should try to consume enough fluid.
2. Long breaks between meals should be avoided.
3. You should shower regularly and use antibacterial soap.
4. Wearing clothes and underwear made from natural fabrics will help reduce sweating.
5. It is recommended to use deodorants with zinc and aluminum.

The acetone smell is a rather dangerous symptom that should never be ignored. Timely treatment will help avoid intoxication of the body and damage to organs from ketones.

If the problem is in the nose

Most often, the smell of acetone in the nose is associated with foreign bodies entering the nasal passage.

Moreover, even after the object has been successfully removed, unpleasant sensations may persist for some time.

If the discomfort does not go away for a long time, you need to make sure that there are no wounds on the mucous membrane that could become infected.

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By the way, the second most common reason is damage to the mucous membrane and the development of small foci of infection.

In this case, it is necessary to treat the infection with antiviral or antibacterial drugs. Some of them will have to be taken orally, others are available in the form of a spray and drops.

Remember! One of the reasons that causes unpleasant odors in the nose is ozena: a complex but, fortunately, rare disease.

Renal pathologies

Why does a person's body smell like acetone? This may be due to kidney disease. With nephrosis, metabolism is disrupted. As a result, the excretion of ketones through the kidneys increases. The acetate odor comes from the patient's urine and sweat.

Nephrosis is a disease accompanied by degenerative changes in kidney tissue. The signs of pathology are as follows:

• increased thirst;
• weakness;
• swelling of the face and limbs;
• decreased amount of urine;
• joint pain.

Without treatment, this disease can lead to kidney failure. Usually a person smells of acetone in the early stages of the disease. As the pathology develops, an ammonia smell appears. This indicates a significant deterioration in kidney function.

The patient is prescribed a diet with a high protein content in food and limited salt and water. Corticosteroids and diuretics are indicated.