Louisville Medicine Volume 68, Issue 10 | Page 27

THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE AROMA OF FOOD Vasudeva Iyer , MD
FEATURE

THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE AROMA OF FOOD Vasudeva Iyer , MD

“ Smell and taste are in fact but a single composite sense , whose laboratory is the mouth and its chimney the nose .”

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-Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in “ The Physiology of Taste ” few weeks ago , I saw a patient for It is fascinating to look at the science of olfactory perception electrodiagnostic confirmation of ( Olfactology ) and how it has been applied in the practice of clinical cubital tunnel syndrome ; at the medicine . Much interest in olfactory science was aroused in 2004 , end of the test , he wanted to seek when the Nobel Prize was awarded to Richard Axel and Linda my opinion on an unrelated problem . “ I am a chef and I can ’ t do my
Buck ( both from the US ) for their outstanding contributions to the understanding of olfaction . The olfactory receptors are located in job well after the nasty coronavirus took away my ability to smell the olfactory receptor cells which occupy the nasal mucosa over the superior turbinate . Each olfactory receptor cell possesses only one and taste food . What can I do to get it back ?” I talked to him about type of odorant receptor , and each can detect a few odorant substances . Signals pass through olfactory nerves to the olfactory bulb
“ olfactory rehabilitation ” and directed him to informative websites . This encounter prompted me to explore the advances in the science
of olfaction and share with you some of the interesting tidbits . and then to several parts of the brain , highlighting the importance of olfaction in many fundamental physiological functions including
Among our various sensations , smell , although phylogenetically discriminating good from bad food , to “ smell out ” predators and ancient , has been the least studied . There have been robust studies prey , and in the formulation of memory . of perfumes , pheromones and “ olfactory branding ” of household and industrial products , and more recently the development of Loss of smell ( anosmia ) has been well-known to occur after the “ electronic nose ” for application in industry . But the unusually head trauma , with or without fracture of the cribriform plate of the
common occurrence of loss of smell in patients with COVID-19 ethmoid bone , due to injury of the tiny olfactory nerves . A meningioma in the olfactory groove is a classic example where detection of infection has stimulated de novo interest in the medical aspects of olfaction . There are ongoing studies to answer the common questions anosmia may contribute to clinical localization . Congenital anosmia such as why the loss of smell occurs , how soon it comes back , and with hypogonadism is seen in Kallmann syndrome , a rare genetic what can be done to facilitate return of function . disorder . Anosmia is also well-known to occur in neurodegenerative
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