Sounds like a sucky superpower, but new research now claims that being sick might actually cause your body to give off a unique odor.



The small Swedish study had looked into previous research which found that certain diseases were associated with specific smells.  They decided to test a theory to see if an overactive immune system would produce a different body odor compared to someone who is healthy.

Eight participants were recruited to give body odor samples by being injected with saline (a simple salt solution that triggered no immune response) or lipopolysaccharide (an endotoxin known to kickstart the immune system in humans). The participants would then wear tight T-shirts that absorbed sweat easily so a body odor sample could be collected.

The findings revealed that not only did sick people smell worse than healthy people, but their stench was even rated as "more unhealthy". Apparently, the unhealthiness could be smell within a few hours after the immune system was triggered. This would suggest that the smell could serve as an important warning signal to others to stay away.