Contents
Prosaic, cyclical ailments are often behind the disorders and loss of the senses of taste and smell. We lose the sense of smell with a runny nose, rhinitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane. Similarly with the sense of taste – here, too, harmless inflammation of the oral mucosa can happen to us. It happens, however, that the causes of the loss of smell or taste go deeper and can mean serious ailments or diseases. So what diseases can they indicate?
Loss of smell – where to look for the causes of this disorder?
Various factors can cause olfactory disorders. It is worth looking carefully at the symptoms to properly diagnose the cause. Disturbances in the sense of smell may occur with a cold, as a result of bacterial and infectious infection. Such an ailment is temporary and usually easily cured with the use of appropriate medicines for a runny nose or other symptoms. However, it may also happen that the problem is more serious and proper diagnostics will lead to a diagnosis of a serious disease. Your attention should be drawn to an unpleasant odor from the nose, sometimes even a stench from the nose, or a metallic smell emerging from it. Such symptoms can mean suffering a skull injury, meningitis, vitamin and mineral deficiency. The loss of the sense of smell may also be a symptom of an aneurysm in the brain, which, by pressing on the olfactory nerve, causes disorders in this area. It is also important to recognize whether the loss of smell is quantitative (partial or complete loss of smell), qualitative (feeling odors that do not correspond to reality, here a very common case is coccmia, in which the patient often experiences an unpleasant smell) or whether they are not hallucinations.
Loss of Taste – What Are the Causes?
Most often, people suffering from bacterial inflammation or having some infection struggle with the loss of taste, which is usually also associated with a loss of smell. As in the case of the sense of smell, sometimes the reasons must be sought deeper. It happens that the lack of taste means much more serious ailments. There are people who are diagnosed with the lack of taste buds. Sometimes, however, the loss of taste is the result of chemotherapy, surgery, chronic struggle with systemic diseases. Hormonal factors are also important, which can also cause disorders in this context. In addition, vitamin deficiencies, long-term medication also brings consequences in the form of loss of taste. Undoubtedly, the most serious causes lead to the diagnosis of brain tumors or the diagnosis of mental illness. Whatever the reasons for your taste disorders affect you, you certainly must not underestimate them. Especially if you are not currently suffering from viral or infectious mucositis. In addition, an inadequate sense of taste lowers the quality of life. It is not comfortable when you cannot define the taste of the food you eat or when you define it incorrectly. It may happen that you name a taste that is not present in a given meal or when you are accompanied by a constant feeling of unpleasantness while eating. You will probably admit that both situations are not comfortable, on the contrary – they make normal functioning difficult.
Loss of Smell and Taste – Get Treated!
In the treatment of disorders in this area, it is essential to recognize the right disease and adjust the medical steps to it. Occasionally, surgical intervention will be needed (in the case of septal deformity, polyps, tumors, etc.). In other cases, treatment with antibiotics is used, supplementation of vitamin deficiencies through appropriate supplementation.