Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) is a devastating disorder, especially for children. Due to an genetically inherited mutation, a person with TMAU can exhibit extreme body odor. This odor can often range from one’s immediate personal space to filling a whole house with odor, within a short time.

Trimethylamine is a volatile and extremely strong smelling compound which causes sufferers to have a highly unpleasant body odour that ranges from rotten fish to garbage. This odour comes out in the sweat and on the breath and is impossible to control with personal hygiene measures, no matter how stringent. Sufferers are ostracized, shunned at school and at work. Often, normal schooling, employment and socializing are impossible.