Smelling Problem

Is your favorite perfume or aftershave no longer as fragrant as it used to be? Depending on your age, this might be yet another one of those unfortunate signs of growing older. As our hearing, sight, and memories fade with age, so does our sense of smell.

The decreased ability to smell is medically known as HYPOSMIA, while the total loss of smell is called  ANOSMIA. To confuse matters further, when the diminished ability to smell is age-related, it is called PRESBYOSMIA. While our sense of smell is fully developed at birth, it is most acute from our teen years to age 60. It goes downhill from there. By our 80s, we smell only half as well as we did when we were in our 30s.

Not surprisingly, smell loss, like a stuffy nose, is often a sign that your nasal passages are clogged from a cold, allergy, sinus infection, nasal polyp, or tumor. But it may also signal a zinc deficiency. (Zinc, in fact, is sometimes used to help restore the sense of smell.) Loss of smell from these causes tends to develop gradually and is usually temporary. Once the cause is treated, the ability to smell usually returns.

A sudden loss of smell in people over the age of 60 often signals an upper respiratory tract infection. But sudden loss of smell is also a fairly common sign of head trauma, especially in younger people. In fact, one in ten people who has had a head injury experiences smell loss, and, unfortunately, it can be permanent.

If your sense of smell is not as sharp as before, your nose may be warning you that you have been exposed to dangerous chemicals or environmental toxins. While smell loss from these culprits can be permanent, prompt treatment may be able to restore your ability to smell.

If you have recently had nasal surgery, a diminished sense of smell can alert you to the fact that something went awry during the procedure. It can also be a reaction to radiation therapy or chemotherapy, as well as to certain drugs such as decongestants and medications for hyperthyroidism. Speaking of drugs, smell loss, like a runny nose, can result from snorting cocaine or other illicit drugs. It can also be your body's way of warning you that you are smoking or drinking too much.

The loss of smell can also be the only warning sign of a type of brain tumor called OLFACTORY  GROOVE  MENINGIOMA. The good news is that this tumor is usually not cancerous and is treatable. The bad news is that if left alone, it can grow and affect not only your sense of smell but your vision as well. Olfactory groove meningioma occurs more often in women than men and usually strikes people between the age of 40 and 70.

Smell loss can also signal a whole host of other medical disorders including diabetes, hypothyroidism, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, lung disease, and even schizophrenia.

Finaly, loss of smell can be a very early sign of the neurological disorders Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. Unfortunately, both of these conditions are often missed or misdiagnosed in their early stages. Smell testing is an important diagnostic tool to help differentiate these neurological disorders from other disorders.

When your sense of smell goes, more is at stake than you think. You are likely to lose your sense of taste as well. Indeed, two-thirds of people who seek help for smell loss also complain about taste loss.

Because the sense of smell is critical to sniff out danger, anyone who has lost this sense should have smoke and natural-gas detectors throughout the home. Carefully dating all perishable food is important as well, to avoid eating spoiled food. these safety precautions are especially critical for those living alone and the elderly.

Our sense of smell is the most acute of all our senses. It is 10,000 times more sensitive than our sense of taste. Indeed, up to 90% of what we perceive as taste is actually smell.

In general, women have a keener sense of smell than men; it is most acute around ovulation.

People with a normal sense of smell can discern about 10,000 different odors.

Smoking can cause loss of sense of smell, not to mention loss of life. In additiion to lung and heart disease and cancer, smokers area at increased risk of causing and being in house fires.