Smell loss is an invisible disease with devastating impacts
Smell loss leaves sufferers vulnerable to environmental hazards, such as spoiled food and gas leaks. (pathdoc/Shutterstock/)Carl Philpott is a professor of Rhinology and Olfactology at the University of East Anglia. This story originally featured on The Conversation.Losing your sense of smell or having it “disturbed” is not as rare as you might think: One in 20 people experience it at some point in their lives. It can happen as a result of chronic sinusitis, damage caused by cold viruses, or even a head injury. It is sometimes also a precursor of nervous system diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. But compared with hearing and sight loss, it receives little research or medical attention.We wanted to better understand the issues people with smell disorders face, so we analysed written, personal accounts of anosmia (loss of sense of smell) by 71 sufferers. The texts revealed several themes, including feelings of isolation, relationship...