A new research published in the journal Plos One shows that difficulty among adults in identifying scents can be a predictor of death within five years. 

They found out that 39 percent of the people who failed a smelling test died within a year of the test, compared to 19 percent of people who experience moderate smell loss.

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Researchers found that olfactory dysfunction is a better way of predicting mortality.

Jayant Pinto from the University of Chicago said that the loss of smell doesn't directly cause death but is an early warning that something was badly damaged in the human body.

To come up with these findings, researchers used Sniffin' Sticks, odor-dispensing devices that are like felt-tip pens loaded with aromas.

Through this test, they found out that 78 percent were classified as normosmic, people who have normal smell, and 3.5 percent were labeled as anosmic, people who could identify just one of the five scents or none at all.

Researchers said that age-related smell loss could have an effect on a person's lifestyle and well- being.

Pinto explained that smells has an impact on how people taste food. There are people with olfactory dysfunction who have lost the joy of eating.

He said that these people tend to make poor food choices and get less nutrition. They also have problems defining spoiled foods, gas leaks and smoke.

Pinto also added that they may also have lapses on their personal hygiene due to the fact that they can't smell.

To date, researchers are still figuring out finding exactly how smell loss contributes to mortality because people don't die just because they can't smell things.

However, they theorize that the decrease in smell may signal the decline of the body's ability to rebuild some of its key components