Transcripts

Joan Liebmann-Smith, author of the book Body Signs…

Some scientists are finding that people with premature gray hair might be prone to diabetes and heart disease. So if your hair is prematurely gray, which they usually say is a half a head of grey hair before you're forty, it's something you might want to pay attention to and be aware of it. You should probably be checked for diabetes.

A poor sense of smell is also a body sign.

They're discovering that loss of a sense of smell could, many years, predate Parkinson's disease and even Alzheimer's disease. In fact the four people that I know who have Parkinson's or have Parkinson's in the family, every single one of them said, "Oh my God that person had lost their sense of smell years before."

Joan has a thyroid condition.

So I've said to several people, "Why don't you have your thyroid checked?" At one point I was in someone's garden in a book party and it was about ninety degrees and this woman had a sweater on. And I said, "It's ninety degrees and you're wearing a sweater have you ever had your thyroid checked?" And she went and she was very hypothyroid, because it's not normal to feel very cold in a hot situation.

At somethingyoushouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.