Smell problems are finally being recognised as serious diseases – by ThePrint

The article from ThePrint says that we generally appreciate the sense of smell less than the other four senses and pay less attention on the smell problems, and also the science of olfaction, compared to that of vision or hearing, is still in the Stone Age. But thanks to the pandemic, all of us are now realizing that not having any smell problems is intrinsic to our nature and essential to our well-being. Before Covid-19, people who lost their olfaction rarely got much attention from their doctors or sympathy from loved ones.

[from the article]

Researchers estimate that about four out of five Covid-19 patients suffer a partial or total loss of smell, a condition known as anosmia. Many have no other symptoms. And no, it’s got nothing to do with stuffy noses; it’s all about the havoc the coronavirus wreaks on our nervous systems.

Many patients recover their olfaction quickly. Others smell less than they did before (hyposmia) or scent every odor wrong (parosmia). A spouse suddenly smells like a stranger, wine like cardboard, sewage like coffee. And some people never regain any olfaction. Worldwide, they must already number in the millions.

Smell, as much of the world is discovering in the pandemic, has long been our most underrated sense. We generally appreciate it less than the other four. Perhaps that’s why we’ve given less money for research into it and, as a result, know relatively little about it. Claire Hopkins, the president of the British Rhinological Society, told me that the science of olfaction, compared to that of vision or hearing, is still in the Stone Age.

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