• Question: I can't smell anything most of the time and its not because i have a constant cold..lol.. i just can't smell! or even taste sometimes - i asked my mum and she said that my grandma had something similar and she had to have an operation because something was blocking it. What are your views on this? x

    Asked by tazmania13 to Fiona, Jane, Joanna, Michelle, William on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hello! There is a disorder called ‘anosmia’ which means a person cannot smell anything! Scientists think this disorder is genetic so you mum is probably right. Maybe visit the doctor and see what he/she says? The doctor will probably ask you to do a smell test to see what smells (if any) you can identify.

    • Photo: Michelle Murphy

      Michelle Murphy answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      My first responce would be to talk to your doctor (best to get it checked out than worry about it). It could be that the scent receptors are just not working as they should be and this would affect your taste also or as your mum said it could just be something blocking your nose. The chances are that it is easily fixable.

    • Photo: William Davies

      William Davies answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      An inability to smell is called anosmia. When we ‘taste’ things, we are often actually smelling volatile chemicals which come from the food and into our nasal cavity, hence why ‘smell’ and ‘taste’ are linked. Anosmia may result from a number of things: infection, death of olfactory neurons in the nose, head injury, or in some case by neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease.

    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hi Tazmania13, there could be lots of explanations. You should ask your doctor to see if they can get to the bottom of it 🙂

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