A new study has found that a weakened sense of smell even when you are in your 40's is linked to death, and dementia is not to be blamed.

According to HealthDay,  researchers from Stockholm University have found that people with a poor sense of smell have about 20 percent higher risk of dying within 10 years

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Jonas Olofsson, the co-author of the study, said that the sense of smell could be a good indicator of aging brain health. "We see smell function as the 'canary in the coal mine," he said.

Earlier studies suggested that dementia is linked with a fading sense of smell, but Olofsson and team argue that the health condition cannot explain any part of the link between smell loss and mortality risk.

Previous researches also found that seniors who perform poorly on smell tests are more likely to die soon than their peers with a good sense of smell. Oloffson and team collected data about middle-aged people as well to determine if the association of fading smell and death risk might also apply.

Around 1,800 adults aged 40 to 90 years old were tracked for 10 years. The results of the initial tests and health conditions, including deterioration of mental ability, were analyzed. Over 400 participants took part in the study period.

A 2013 study involving 3,000 senior Americans found that those who have trouble smelling scents such as peppermint, orange, and rose were more than thrice as likely to die in the next five years, compared to those with a sharp sense of smell.

The study, which was published in the online journal PLOS One, concluded that "anosmia" or the inability to distinguish odors is a more effective predictor of death than major killers such as lung disease, heart disease or cancer.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health reported that one to two percent of North Americans have a sense of smell issues.