COVID-19 olfactory loss affects the entire generation

NS Loss of smell or taste It is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. These sensations usually return to normal within a few weeks, but with continued coronavirus infection, doctors are worried that a significant number of patients will face long-term or permanent problems.

Losing the sense of smell has a greater practical and psychological effect than people understand because it affects taste, from appetite to how one relates to the world. It may affect you.

Dr. Rakeschchandra, a researcher at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Smell and Taste Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said people of all ages would be affected.

“I don’t think COVID will go away. Chandra, a professor of otolaryngology and head of hospital nasopharyngology and skull base surgery, said today that there are multiple rolling hill-like outbreaks. think.

“In each of these, there are a few percent of people who have complete or almost complete loss of smell, and people generally do not die of COVID, so only a percentage of the population who then roams with that problem grows.”

When Chandra and his colleagues surveyed more than 1,000 adult COVID-19 patients Almost 11% reported Partially or completely loses the sense of smell for more than 6 weeks.

Other studies were even more interesting. A study of 798 adult COVID-19 patients who lost their sense of smell and taste, conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, found 20% have not yet recovered their sense of smell By 6 months after infection.

Dr. Evan Reiter, medical director and collaborator of the study at VCU Health’s Center for Smell and Taste Disorders, said, “Given the millions of people suffering from COVID-19, that percentage is high. People. ” NS statement..

More than 237 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported World Health Organization As of October. If either study reflects what is happening around the world, tens of millions of people around the world may be roaming with olfactory dysfunction months after infection. ..

Chandra believed that the number of COVID-19 patients who would permanently lose their sense of smell would settle to 5% to 6% or so as more people were tracked over the long term.

Most people don’t think it’s a big deal, but the effects can be catastrophic. Eating-most of the ways we enjoy our daily lives-is deprived of much of its sensory joy. Other scents such as floral scents, perfumes, rain and freshly cut grass are gone. Even your home has a peculiar smell — do you still feel at home without it? There is also no warning system in case of bad smoke or food.

“We take for granted what we are smelling. But we literally live in a medium of fluid air, and with a sense of smell, we constantly sample the environment. It’s … just breathing and interacting with it momentarily, its subtleties, “Chandra said.

“It’s so far away that it’s not there … there’s a certain feeling of power outage.”

It is a complex part of our psychology because odors also affect the parts of the brain involved in emotional sensations and memory.

recently Research Eighty-seven percent of adults with “smell and taste disorders” associated with COVID-19 complained about reduced dietary enjoyment, and 43% reported depression.

You can lose your appetite, which leads to weight loss, but Chandra said you could actually gain weight because you eat more salt and sugar to compensate for your sensory changes. The taste buds on the tongue allow people to recognize whether something is sweet, sour, bitter, or salty, but the taste requires a smell.

The new coronavirus does not directly affect olfactory nerve cells. Instead, it appears to infect the supporting cells around them, Chandra said. He added that even in patients with long-term loss, the sensory system could eventually rewire itself, allowing things to return somewhat to normal.

Researchers at Virginia State University School of Medicine have found that people under the age of 40 are more likely to recover COVID-19-related loss of smell and taste than older people.

I hate it, but from the state where it doesn’t smell anything Distorted sensation of smell Chandra says the prognosis is probably good because where everything is rotten or smells different than before, it means that there is underlying neural function.

Recommended by both him and the writer to increase the chances of restoring the sense of smell Smell training Use scented essential oils such as rose, lemon, eucalyptus and cloves twice daily for at least 3 months for a few seconds. It helps restore some of the ability to identify and distinguish odors.

“Potentially, it may be adjusted a bit more to the level of function people have left, so it may be able to make them more sensitive and better use the remaining sensors and neurons that are working. “Hmm,” said the writer. “It’s low cost and low risk.”

Patients can also try anti-inflammatory steroids prescribed as a nasal spray. This is usually a treatment for people with chronic sinusitis. It may be useful. It may not be. It doesn’t hurt anything, “Chandra said.

eat Anti-inflammatory diet high in omega 3 fatty acids Another option to try, he added.

Chandra said that if a patient was infected with COVID-19 three months ago and tried all of them and did not smell, they probably would not return to their pre-infection sensations.

These patients may one day benefit from techniques similar to cochlear implants. It is a device that uses sensors to detect odor molecules in the air and tells the brain to detect the correct odor.Virginia Commonwealth University researchers We are working on such a solution.