What it's like to live without a sense of smell
January 22, 2020
Science Daily/University of East Anglia
New research reveals the impact of smell loss. As many as one in 20 people live without smell. But until now there has been little research into the range of emotional and practical impacts it causes. The new study finds that almost every aspect of life is disrupted - from everyday concerns about personal hygiene to a loss of sexual intimacy and the break-down of personal relationships.
The smell of cut grass, freshly baked bread, childhood memories, lost loved ones, Christmas. What happens when it's all gone?
A new study from the University of East Anglia reveals the huge range of emotional and practical impacts caused by a loss of smell.
It finds that almost every aspect of life is disrupted -- from everyday concerns about personal hygiene to a loss of sexual intimacy and the break-down of personal relationships.
The researchers hope that their findings will help motivate clinicians to take smell problems more seriously, with better help and support offered to patients.
Prof Carl Philpott, from UEA's Norwich Medical School, said: "Smell disorders affect around five per cent of the population and cause people to lose their sense of smell, or change the way they perceive odours. Some people perceive smells that aren't there at all.
"There are many causes -- from infections and injury to neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and as a side effect of some medications.
"Most patients suffer a loss of flavour perception which can affect appetite and can be made even worse if distortions in their sense of smell also co-exist.
"Previous research has shown that people who have lost their sense of smell also report high rates of depression, anxiety, isolation and relationship difficulties.
"We wanted to find out more about how a loss of smell affects people."
The researchers worked with the Smell and Taste clinic at the James Paget University Hospital, Gorleston-On-Sea. The clinic opened in 2010 and was the UK's first clinic dedicated to taste and smell.
The study involved 71 participants aged between 31-80 who had written to the clinic about their experiences. It was carried out in collaboration with Fifth Sense, the charity for people affected by smell and taste disorders.
The research shows that sufferers experience wide-ranging impairments to their quality of life. These included a negative emotional impact, feelings of isolation, impaired relationships and daily functioning, impacts on physical health and the difficulty and financial burden of seeking help.
Prof Philpot said: "One really big problem was around hazard perception -- not being able to smell food that had gone off, or not being able to smell gas or smoke. This had resulted in serious near misses for some.
"But smell is not just a life-saving sense -- it is also life-enhancing.
"A large number of the participants no longer enjoyed eating, and some had lost appetite and weight. Others were eating more food with low nutritional value that was high in fat, salt and sugar -- and had consequently gained weight.
"Participants had lost interest in preparing food and some said they were too embarrassed to serve dishes to family and friends which had an impact on their social lives.
"The inability to link smells to happy memories was also a problem. Bonfire night, Christmas smells, perfumes and people -- all gone. Smells link us to people, places and emotional experiences. And people who have lost their sense of smell miss out on all those memories that smell can evoke.
"We found that personal hygiene was a big cause for anxiety and embarrassment, because the participants couldn't smell themselves.
"Parents of young children couldn't tell when their nappies needed changing, and this led to feelings of failure. One mother found it difficult bonding with her new baby because she couldn't smell him.
"Many participants described a negative impact on relationships -- ranging from not enjoying eating together to an impact on sexual relationships," he added.
All of these problems led to diverse range of negative emotions including anger, anxiety, frustration, depression, isolation, loss of confidence, regret and sadness. And the problems were compounded by a lack of understanding about the disorder among clinicians.
Prof Philpott said: "The participants described a lot of negative and unhelpful interactions with healthcare professionals before coming to the James Paget Smell and Taste clinic. Those that did manage to get help and support were very pleased -- even if nothing could be done about their condition, they were very grateful for advice and understanding."
Duncan Boak, Founder and Chair of Fifth Sense, said: "Anosmia can have a huge impact on people's quality of life in many ways, as this research demonstrates. An important part of Fifth Sense's work is giving our beneficiaries a voice and the opportunity to change the way society understands smell and taste disorders, whether through volunteering or participating in research studies like this one. The results of this study will be a big help in our ongoing work to improve the lives of those affected by anosmia."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122175643.htm
Hit your head, lose your sense of smell
July 23, 2019
Science Daily/University of Montreal
It's long been known that people who suffer a major concussion can lose their sense of smell temporarily and also develop affective problems, such as anxiety and depression. Now scientists have found that's true even for people who get a minor concussion.
Falling off a bike with a helmet on, having a fender-bender in one's car, taking a tumble on the ski slopes, slipping on ice and hitting one's head -- these kinds of minor accidents can provoke the same kinds of olfactory and anxiety problems, the researchers found.
In a study published in Brain Injury, an international team led by Université de Montréal neuropsychologists compared 20 hospital patients who had mild concussions to 22 who'd broken limbs but had no concussion. Within 24 hours of their accident, just over half of those with mild concussions had a reduced sense of smell, versus only 5 per of the patients with broken bones. A year later, although their sense of smell was back to normal, the first group of patients had significantly more anxiety than the control group.
"A lot of people will suffer a mild concussion at some point in their life, so realizing they have trouble smelling is the first step to telling their doctor about it," said lead author Fanny Lecuyer Giguère, who did the research as part of her doctoral thesis in neuropsychology supervised by UdeM associate professor of psychology Johannes Frasnelli. "It's important that patients report any loss of smell, because it's not something their general practitioner or emergency-room physician normally asks about."
Identifying the problem is a short step to getting personalized treatment, she added, with closer follow-up to see if the loss of smell and anxiety persist, indicating the severity of the injury. Physicians should also educate their patients so that they check whether symptoms crop up in the weeks following their accident, she said. "It's a question of raising awareness: the more people are told to watch for signs of olfactory loss and anxiety, the easier it will be for doctors to respond."
To test their capacity to identify smells, Lecuyer Giguère visited hospital patients in the alpine ski resort of Visp, Switzerland between December 2016 and February 2017. Almost all those with mild concussions had had a skiing accident. They were all seen within the first 24 hours following their accident, as were those with fractures but no concussion. With scented "Sniffin' Sticks' (felt-tip pens) to smell, they were asked to identify synthetic odours of roses, garlic, cloves and solvent, and more.
A year later, the patients were sent a follow-up questionnaire and a set of scratch-and-sniff booklets. By comparing the two groups of patients' results in the day following their injury and 12 months later, the researchers were able to determine that most who'd lost their sense of smell gained it back within six months of their accident.
What did not significantly diminish, however, were their symptoms of anxiety: thoughts that made them worry, difficulties to relax, and sudden feelings of panic. About 65 per cent of the concussed patients reported such symptoms.
Future studies should look at a larger sample of patients to better examine the association between anxiety and olfaction, the authors concluded.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190723182253.htm