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Qualitative Smell Disorders

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Mint is distinctively sharper and cooler than a pine tree. Sushi is a clean smell, with a combination of sweet rice and subtle notes of ginger and lemon. An apple pie has the scent of summer because of the warmth of the cinnamon and nutmeg. Christmas is earthy mixed with a hint of sharp, clean aroma. Books are musty yet crisp, similar to a hundred-dollar bill. A dog’s pungent breath smell much like corn chips and hot dogs. Blood is an acrid, sweet, metallic aroma. Lavender is floral and has herbal notes with balsamic undertones. Ocean water is overwhelming and heavy.
As much as I would want to, I can’t smell any of that and I probably never will. I will never know the true taste of chocolate or cheese. I will never be able to eat cooked oatmeal …show more content…

Quantitative smell disorders refer to those in which there is either a complete or partial loss of smell. There are two classified quantifiable smell disorders: anosmia and hyposmia – which is the reduced loss of smell. A branch of anosmia is congenital anosmia; this is the condition where a person is born without a sense of smell. The umbrella term dysosmia refers to a qualitative olfaction disorder in which a person suffers from a distorted sense of smell. From there, dysosmia is broken down into three separate disorders: parosmia, phantosmia, and agnosia. Parosmia is the distortion in the perception of odors (pleasant aromas are now foul and off-putting). While phantosmia is the sensation of an odor that is not present, agnosia is the inability to classify or compare …show more content…

If medication is the cause, doctors may be able to lower the dosage or change the medicine itself to reduce the effect(s). Surgery will be needed to remove any nasal obstructions that restrict the airflow to the nose. Aromatherapy is another useful tool for recovering smell. Although some individuals are able to recover their sense of smell spontaneously, for no obvious reason, most are not so lucky. When a complete recovery is not possible, there are dire

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