Can you imagine how you would feel when you are not able to smell at all?

Anosmia is the condition of the human body when it loses the sense of smell either completely or partially. The quality of life gets affected.  The sense of smell that we take for granted is extremely important and we realize only when we lose it for a day or two due to cough and cold. 

However, the lives of those who are life-long smell-impaired right from their birth are not a very ideal one. Anosmia Awareness Day was founded in 2012 to spread awareness about this rare disorder by a person named Daniel Schein, who has been facing this impairment in his life. His initiative gained momentum and now worldwide 65 research centres are conducting research to help and support people suffering from the anosmia disorder.

Challenges Faced by people suffering from Anosmia

Loss in appetite as the sense of taste gets affected by the loss of the sense of smell

They cannot detect foul smell like gas leakage that is very damaging or short-circuit in electrical appliances which can lead to fire

They are not able to identify stale food because they are not able to smell it and can cause themselves food poisoning

They have to be very cautious with some harmful substances like cleaning agents, chemicals etc. that are commonly available at homes. They have to always rely on the labelling. If the label is torn. It’s a huge problem for them.

Anosmia is different from the regular nasal blockage

People generally suffer from anosmia when there is some regular cough or cold but that is a temporary phase and we quickly get back to normal conditions. Even the sufferers from the coronavirus suffered from anosmia but recovered from this symptom after a point of time. However, the disorder for which awareness is being spread is completely different. It is more severe as far as the sense of smell is concerned.

Nerve damage is a common cause of Anosmia

Nerves carry receptors from our nose to our brain. Anosmia occurs when the pathway or in other words the nerve meant for this function is damaged. This is a genetic condition and could be due to many significant factors like hormonal problems, advancements in age, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, thyroid, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, very high diabetes, brain tumour/brain injury/surgery, long term alcoholism, radiation therapy, etc.

Congenital Anosmia

Nerve damage can occur later in life of an individual too for example during the development of brain tumours, during brain injury or surgery, due to long-term alcoholism, radiation therapy, old age etc. However, certain people are born without the sense to smell. This is congenital anosmia.

Anosmia Diagnosis

There are several ways to diagnose this disorder:

Anosmia treatment

The cure of anosmia disorder that is there from birth or due to old age is still under research. Some surgical options are tried to reduce the severity of the disease. A doctor’s consultation is the best so that he/she can carve out a treatment plan based on individual history. If it is partial anosmia caused due to regular health issues, they are curable. Hence the cause determines the treatment. Remedies like steroid nasal sprays, decongestants, antibiotics for bacterial infections are some treatment options for anosmia of a lesser serious nature.