Smell (olfaction)
What is the sense of smell?
Smell disorders
Causes of smell disorders
Prevention / remedies / cures / treatment for smell disorders
References
What is the sense of smell?
Smell (olfaction) is the ability to detect specific odorous molecules passing through the nasal cavities. It is essential for animals to be able to smell foods, poisons, weather, water sources and dangers such as predators and smoke, so smell is usually their most important sense.
Humans have about 10 square cm (1.6 sq in) of olfactory epithelium, whereas some dogs have 170 cm (26 sq in). (1)
A loss of smell can happen at any age, but more so with older people. If affects at least 1.5% of all people. Loss of smell can be temporary, permanent or intermittent.
Usually land organisms have separate olfaction systems for smell and taste, but water-dwelling organisms have only one system.
Humans and some other animals are able to smell potential sex partners, and prefer partners with MHC genes different to their own, thus avoiding incest and inbreeding.
Food is tasteless if you have lost your sense of smell. Taste and smell are closely interlinked, and if smell is cut off then taste ceases to function. The sense of smell contributes to taste during exhalation. In contrast, smelling occurs when you breathe in (inhalation).
Smell disorders
- Anosmia (nose-blindness) - the inability to smell.
- Hyposmia - decreased ability to smell.
- Dysosmia - things smell different from memory or expectation.
- Hyperosmia - an abnormally acute sense of smell.
- Olfactory reference syndrome - psychological disorder causing the patient to imagine they have a strong body odour.
- Parosmia - things smell worse than they should.
- Phantosmia - "hallucinated smell", usually unpleasant.
Causes of smell disorders
The problem with curing anosmia is that there are so many possible causes. Try to work out which causes apply to you before embarking on using the remedies below.
- Sinus infection and / or nasal congestion are common causes.
- Ageing.
- Dementia, such as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia or early Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. A loss of smell without other causes occurring, is a good early indicator that Alzheimer's or another form of dementia is on the horizon.
- Toxic chemical exposure.
- Vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin B3 (niacin) deficiency, or deficiency of other B vitamins.
- Pharmaceutical medications.
- Nerve damage from aspartame, excess sugar and diet products.
- Covid-19 can cause loss of smell and / or taste, at levels varying from hardly noticeable to complete loss. The time period can also vary from one day to several years. It seems that in nearly all cases there is partial or complete recovery over a period of months or years.
- Trauma to the head or nasal area which can injure the olfactory nerve.
- Zinc deficiency or excess. Zinc can be either the cause or the cure of nose blindness. Cold preparations containing intranasal zinc gluconate gel have been known to cause anosmia. It is best to test your zinc level before supplementing. People suffering pyroluria are likely to be zinc deficient.
- Toothpaste for sensitive teeth (de-sensitising toothpaste).
Prevention / remedies / cures / treatment for loss of smell
If you use any remedies from Grow Youthful, please come back next week (or whenever you have an outcome) and let us know about your experience. Please leave a comment as many people are interested.
See details of remedies recommended by Grow Youthful visitors, and their experience with them.
- Zinc.
- Vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B12, and all other B vitamins. The best food sources of vitamin B3, B12 and other B vitamins is red meat (especially liver), followed by fish and poultry. Other food sources include spirulina, nuts and bananas. If you have to supplement then use unfortified nutritional yeast that has undergone minimal processing.
- L-Carnosine 500 mg 2-3 times a day.
- Coriander (cilantro) - A handful of fresh coriander every second day.
- Apple cider vinegar plus sodium bicarbonate. Two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda in half a glass of water twice a day.
- Borax.
- ALA (alpha lipoic acid).
- Garlic.
- Fenugreek.
- Castor oil.
- Heavy metal removal.
- Fluoride removal.
- Omega-3 supplementation if suffering nerve damage from aspartame, sugar and diet products.
- Toothpaste. Avoid sensitive relief type toothpastes for sensitive teeth. Only use a small amount of toothpaste on your brush, less than the size of a pea. Rinse your mouth thoroughly after brushing. Use sodium bicarbonate as a better natural toothpaste.
References
1. Wikipedia, olfaction.