loss of smell Archives - Amazing Health Advances

6 Things You Didn’t Know About the Science of Smell

The AHA! Team — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:36:45 +0000

Zachy Hennessey via Israel21c – Here are some of the coolest things Israeli researchers have sniffed out about the underappreciated sense of smell. You may not think it’s so important, but scientific research has done a lot to prove that your sense of smell has a lot of value besides checking if that two-week old cream cheese is starting to go bad (it is). We here at ISRAEL21c have been covering breakthroughs in smell research for over a decade; below are seven of the more incredible olfactory discoveries over the last few years that are sure to pique your interest — and your nose. 1. Like ‘white noise,’ there’s ‘white smell’ In 2012, a team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science (led by the noted olfactory researcher Prof. Noam Sobel) discovered that it’s possible to make a smell that our brains perceive as completely neutral — a so-called “white smell.” Just like white noise and the color white itself are blends of audio frequencies and light waves, respectively, white smell can be created by taking an amalgamation of about 30 different points across the scent spectrum and blending them together. They even invented a fancy name for the new smell: Laurax. That’s going right to the top of my “names for obscure smells” list, right above “Petrichor” (the smell that comes after a long-awaited rain), and right below “Yuckamolis” (my four-year-old’s description of the smell of my feet). 2. If you can’t smell, you’ll die faster Bad news if your sniffer’s out of commission: According to research published this year in Nature Communications, people who don’t have a sense of smell have a reduced life expectancy. Researchers at Weizmann found that people who don’t have a functioning olfactory sense have unique breathing patterns that could be linked to depression, anxiety and other negative health outcomes which, all in all, add up to a minus on life’s upper limits. A bit off our topic, but nonetheless fascinating, the same paper reveals the critical importance of sighing to good health. The researchers explain that “to maintain life, patients need not only to breathe rhythmically, but also sigh every 5 min[utes] or so, as this is critical for preventing collapse of alveoli in the lungs.” 3. Your nose has spots for different smells You may have heard that different parts of your tongue can taste different flavors. Well, the same goes for your nose. Back in 2011, Sobel and a group of Weizmann researchers found that there are specific areas in your nose dedicated to processing pleasant and unpleasant smells. This means that there are objective ways to measure whether an odor is actually bad and not a matter of personal taste: if the “yucky” sensors are the ones that process the smell of rotten fish, for example, then it’s a safe bet that rotten fish is definitively a bad smell. “We uncovered a clear correlation between the pattern of nerve reaction to various smells and the pleasantness of those smells. As in sight and hearing, the receptors for our sense of smell are spatially organized in a way that reflects the nature of the sensory experience,” Sobel noted. 4. Our friends smell like us Research conducted by — you guessed it — the Weizmann Institute in 2022 discovered that we tend to be friendlier with people who smell like we do. Using a fancy electronic nose, researchers discovered that close friends often share similar body odor patterns, a finding that goes beyond mere coincidence. The team put this theory to the test with both existing friends and strangers, finding they could predict with 71 percent accuracy which people would form social bonds based on smell similarity alone. 5. The smell of women’s tears makes men less aggressive Weizmann scientists also discovered that women’s tears contain chemicals that significantly reduce aggressive behavior in men. In the experiments, men who sniffed women’s tears (without knowing what they were smelling) showed 44% less aggressive behavior in a revenge-based game compared to when they sniffed saline. As we all (definitely) know, a similar phenomenon has been observed in other animal populations, like mice. The crazy thing is, humans don’t even have the biological parts necessary to detect the signals that lady tears give off — our noses just pick up on the odorless chemicals and our brains know what to do in response. Considering this discovery, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more sports bars having a spray bottle of woman tears on hand to cool off rowdy patrons. 6. Your nose could keep you on life support If you’re in a coma — first of all, I’m impressed that you’re reading this, but also — your nose may be able to communicate with the doctors around you. Scientists at (drumroll please…) the Weizmann Institute and Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital discovered that, by measuring changes in patients’ nasal airflow when exposed to different odors (like fragrant shampoo or rotten fish), those who showed even slight reactions to smells had a 100% rate of regaining consciousness during the four-year study period. The test also predicted with 92% accuracy which patients would survive for at least three years. This discovery is a big deal because current methods of diagnosing consciousness in brain-injured patients can be wrong up to 40% of the time, which affects critical decisions about life support and pain management. The new “sniff test” is simple, inexpensive and can be done at a patient’s bedside. The bad news is that this seriously amplifies the negative effects of entry No. 2 on this list. There’s truly no rest for the smell bereft. To read the original article click here.

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Could Vitamin A Help to Regain Your Smell Loss After COVID-19?

AHA Publisher — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 07:00:23 +0000

University of East Anglia via News-Medical – Researchers at the University of East Anglia and James Paget University Hospital are launching a new project to see whether Vitamin A could help people regain their sense of smell after viral infections including COVID-19. We also spoke exclusively to Professor Carl Philpott who is leading the study to find out more. Smell loss is a common symptom of COVID-19, but even before COVID, many viruses had been causing smell loss and distortion and while most people naturally regain their sense of smell within a couple of weeks, many have been left with ongoing smell disorders. We asked Lead researcher Prof Carl Philpott, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Trust why this is and he said the following; “Viruses may differ in their mechanisms of action but they are generally thought to cause the fine hair like endings (cilia) of the smell receptors to fall away, leading to loss of function. “It is not clear why some people are left with ongoing smell disorders and others are not. It is possible some who have persistent problems have greater numbers of the ACE2 receptors that allow the spike protein to enter and infect the smell.” Previous research from Germany has shown the potential benefit of Vitamin-A, and the UEA team will explore how this treatment works to help repair tissues in the nose damaged by viruses. They hope that the study, which has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), could one day help improve the lives of millions around the world who suffer from smell loss, by returning their fifth sense. The Apollo research team will work with patients who have lost their sense of smell due to a viral infection. They will either receive a 12-week course of nasal vitamin A drops or inactive equivalent drops and have their brains scanned before and after the treatment. The scans will be compared to those of a control group who have not been treated with vitamin A drops. When asking Professor Carl Philpott about what the study will be looking for, and how to get involved, he said the following; “We will be measuring the size of the olfactory bulbs and also brain activity in response to varying smells. “You can get involved in the Apollo Study using the following link: https://rhinology-group.uea.ac.uk/apollo-trial/“ Duncan Boak, Founder, and Chair of Fifth Sense said: “At Fifth Sense we have engaged with thousands of people who have experienced changes in their ability to smell or taste as a result of the COVID-19 virus. They join an already large community of people with a smell disorder that pre-dates the pandemic. “The question we are most often asked is about available treatments to support recovery. Not being able to smell is not only physically distressing but can affect the enjoyment of social occasions and present hazards and risks that might never have been previously considered such as not being able to detect gas leaks or spoiled food. “Research into potentially successful interventions is vital to help people feeling the impact of smell disorders that affects the quality and enjoyment of their life.” To take part in this trial, patients need to be referred to The Smell and Taste Clinic at the James Paget University Hospital by their GP. Recruitment is expected to begin in December 2021. Following this study, Professor Carl Philpott aims to “keep developing new treatment options and coping strategies”. To read the original article click here.

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Scientists Believe Constipation Can Be An Early Sign of Parkinson’s Disease

AHA Publisher — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 07:00:05 +0000

Brian Blum via Israel21c – If you suffer from constipation, it might be a sign of early Parkinson’s disease. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, have hypothesized that constipation – a common although not usually discussed non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s – could predate diagnosis of the neurological disease by up to 20 years. That’s important because there are currently no therapies capable of stopping the progression of the Parkinson’s. However, if it is diagnosed early enough, scientists hope that certain therapies that have proved unsuccessful later on in the disease might work to at earlier stages. Parkinson’s involves the buildup of tiny deposits of protein waste within brain cells called Lewy bodies (named after Dr. Friedrich Lewy who first discovered them in 1912). Lewy body buildup appears to be linked with specific non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s including anxiety, sleep disorders and the loss of the sense of smell. Scientists have proposed that Lewy bodies kill some of the brain cells that control the healthy functioning of different parts of the body, including the gastrointestinal tract. Because Lewy bodies are clinically inaccessible and can’t be studied directly in the brain, scientists have had to look for related symptoms – like constipation. Lewy bodies may lurk in the brain for many years before diagnosis. The Hebrew University team, led by Prof. Joshua Goldberg of the Department of Medical Neurobiology, over-expressed a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain cells of laboratory mice. Alpha-synuclein controls gastrointestinal motility; it is also the main constituent of Lewy bodies. The result was that the over-expression of the protein caused the mice brain cells to shrink and their electrical activity to slow down, directly affecting the physiological properties that lead to constipation. The researchers concluded that it is likely that this is also the process that occurs in humans in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. “As far as we know, this is the first time that anyone has described a causal chain of events connecting between how alpha-synuclein protein impacts brain cells and the early symptoms that we have long known predate this disease,” Goldberg says. While the research is still hypothetical for humans, Goldberg is enthusiastic. “Consider a 55-to 60-year-old patient suffering from constipation,” he notes. “We may someday design a test based on the neural changes we discovered to determine whether there is a neural factor at play which could hint to Parkinson’s… one day in the future we are confident that we will be able to identify a variety of biomarkers – including physiological ones, like the one we propose – that will allow us to definitively diagnose the disease far earlier than we are currently able.” Goldberg worked with a team of researchers at the Hebrew University including Dr. Wei-Hua Chiu, Prof. Menachem Hanani, Prof. Rami Yaka, Dr. Danny Ben Zvi and Dr. Hadar Arien-Zakay. The results were published last week in the journal Science Advances. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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Loss of Smell & Taste Validated as COVID-19 Symptoms (w/High Recovery Rate)

AHA Publisher — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 07:00:52 +0000

University of California – San Diego via EurekAlert – Loss of smell and taste has been anecdotally linked to COVID-19 infections. Study suggests clinicians should include sensory impairment as standard screening measure. In a study published April 12, 2020 in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, researchers at UC San Diego Health report the first empirical findings that strongly associate sensory loss with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. If you have smell & taste loss, you’re more than 10x more likely to have COVID-19 infection than other causes of infection “Based on our study, if you have smell and taste loss, you are more than 10 times more likely to have COVID-19 infection than other causes of infection. The most common first sign of a COVID-19 infection remains fever, but fatigue and loss of smell and taste follow as other very common initial symptoms,” said Carol Yan, MD, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at UC San Diego Health. “We know COVID-19 is an extremely contagious virus. This study supports the need to be aware of smell and taste loss as early signs of COVID-19.” Yan and colleagues surveyed 1,480 patients with flu-like symptoms and concerns regarding potential COVID-19 infection who underwent testing at UC San Diego Health from March 3 through March 29, 2020. Within that total, 102 patients tested positive for the virus and 1,378 tested negative. The study included responses from 59 COVID-19-positive patients and 203 COVID-19-negative patients. Yan said the study demonstrated the high prevalence and unique presentation of certain sensory impairments in patients positive with COVID-19. Of those who reported loss of smell and taste, the loss was typically profound, not mild. But encouragingly, the rate of recovery of smell and taste was high and occurred usually within two to four weeks of infection. “Our study not only showed that the high incidence of smell and taste is specific to COVID-19 infection, but we fortunately also found that for the majority of people sensory recovery was generally rapid,” said Yan. “Among the Covid-19 patients with smell loss, more than 70 percent had reported improvement of smell at the time of survey and of those who hadn’t reported improvement, many had only been diagnosed recently.” Sensory return typically matched the timing of disease recovery. Interestingly, the researchers found that persons who reported experiencing a sore throat more often tested negative for COVID-19. In an effort to decrease risk of virus transmission, UC San Diego Health now includes loss of smell and taste as a screening requirement for visitors and staff, as well as a marker for testing patients who may be positive for the virus. Other known symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, fatigue, cough and difficulty breathing. Respondents in Yan’s study were most often persons with milder forms of COVID-19 infection who did not require hospitalization or intubation. The findings, she said, underline the importance of identifying early or subtle symptoms of COVID-19 infection in people who may be at risk of transmitting the disease as they recuperate within the community. “It is our hope that with these findings other institutions will follow suit and not only list smell and taste loss as a symptom of COVID-19, but use it as a screening measure for the virus across the world,” Yan said. To read the original article click here.

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Loss of Smell Hints at Coronavirus Infection

AHA Publisher — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 07:00:54 +0000

King’s College London via News-Medical Net – The most common signs and symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) include fever, dry cough, and difficulty of breathing. But patients who were infected recall another bizarre symptom tied to the coronavirus infection – loss of smell. Doctors from across the globe are reporting cases of patients with COVID-19 who experienced anosmia, or the loss of their sense of smell and others lose their sense of taste or ageusia. In the latest report based on the data gathered from the COVID Symptom Tracker app suggests that one symptom tied to coronavirus infection is losing one’s sense of taste and smell. The app, which was developed by scientists at King’s College London as part of a Twins UK study, focuses on determining the symptoms most experienced by patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease. App Symptoms Tracker The app was downloaded by about 1.5 million users between Mar. 24 and 29. Based on the analysis of the data gathered by the app, about 26 percent of all users reported one or more symptoms. About 1,702 of the users had the coronavirus test, where 579 people tested positive, and 1,123 had negative results. Among those who tested positive with COVID-19, 59 percent had experienced the loss of smell and taste. In fact, the symptoms can be a predictive factor in diagnosing COVID-19, or in having the person get a test, than self-reported fever. Fever can be caused by a variety of factors, unlike the loss of smell and taste, which were seen in previous coronavirus outbreaks. With all the information gathered by the users, the team developed a model to determine which combination of symptoms could predict positive COVID-19 cases. The team found that the most reliable predictor is the loss of smell and taste. Other symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, fatigue, persistent cough, loss of appetite, and abdominal pain. In some instances, people experience gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea. Further, the team found that nearly 13 percent of about 400,000 people reporting symptoms who had not yet been tested for COVID-19 are more likely to be infected by the virus, which means an extra 50,000 people are likely to have COVID-19 but have not been confirmed yet. The app was developed by King’s College London scientists, in partnership with the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, a healthcare start-up called ZOE Global LTD, and the NIHR Biomedical Research Center. The app’s aim and purpose are to help researchers understand how the virus spreads, the progression of COVID-19, and how many people have symptoms. Loss of Smell Loss of smell happens with the common colds and other viral infections, especially those affecting the nose and throat. Reports from doctors who handled patients with coronavirus say that the loss of smell may be one of the first symptoms of COVID-19. In fact, doctors have reported that up to 70 percent of patients who tested positive for the coronavirus experience anosmia and ageusia. Some countries affected, such as Iran, China, Italy, Germany, and France have all reported cases of the coronavirus disease where patients reported a temporary loss in their sense of taste or smell. Both symptoms were found in many patients, even in the absence of other symptoms. Public Health England has received reports about anosmia as an early sign of COVID-19 infection. Hence, health officials urged health care personnel always to employ full personal protective equipment (PPE) when dealing with patients, especially if they report anosmia as a symptom. “This primary research is only possible thanks to the 1.8 million citizen scientists logging their symptoms every day. This also gives us an evolving map of the UK of where symptoms are occurring two to three weeks before a strain on the NHS, which is why it’s vital to continue logging your health and symptoms, even when you feel completely healthy, and encourage others to use the app,” Professor Tim Spector, lead researcher, said. Further research is needed to definitively show how our sense of smell is affected by COVID-19. Still, it appears that anosmia may signal an infection. To read the original article click here.

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