What may be behind a LOSS OF SMELL

Do you suffer from anosmia? It’s not a loss of memory - that is amnesia. However, anosmia does involve the loss of something else, namely your sense of smell.

Chances are at some point in your life you have experienced a period of anosmia, which is the partial or complete loss of smell. Few people give thought to what loss of sense of smell means until they are nose-deep in that loss. Anosmia can be permanent or temporary, and various things could be behind it.

Allergies or a cold

A cold or allergies are two conditions that irritate the delicate lining inside of the nose, interrupting olfactory receptors. In addition, swelling of the nasal membranes likely also plays a role in loss of smell, which is common with respiratory illnesses and allergic rhinitis and chronic sinus infections, according to Healthline.

Head trauma

The Monell Center, which studies and treats issues related to taste and smell, says that between 20 and 30 percent of head trauma patients have some type of problem with smell. Olfactory nerves pass through small openings in the cribriform plate, a honeycomb-like bone between the nose and the brain. These nerve fibers can be crushed or severed when the force of a head injury causes the brain to collide with the skull.

COVID-19

Anosmia has been identified as a side effect of the COVID-19 virus. In fact, temporary loss of smell is the main neurological symptom and one of the most commonly reported early indicators of the disease, says Harvard Medical School. Research teams found infection of nonneuronal cell types - those that support neurons - are responsible for anosmia in COVID-19 patients. The good news is the neurons are not affected, so sense of smell can recover over time.

Other causes

There are other medically sound reasons why loss of smell may occur. These range from exposure to chemicals that burn the inside of the nose to an underactive thyroid to long-term alcoholism. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease also have been linked to anosmia. However, there are many other conditions that obstruct the nasal passages or cause damage to the brain or nerves involved in sense of smell.

Anyone who experiences loss of smell should consult with a doctor, especially if a COVID-19 test comes back negative. Such a loss could indicate a minor situation or be a symptom of a more serious illness.