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Dr KK Aggarwal 18 November 2020
With input from Dr Monica Vasudev
1145: Loss of taste and smell may affect the senses even after patients recover, states The Washington Post.
Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 complain that certain smells seem strange and certain foods taste awful. This is termed parosmia, a disorder that temporarily distorts odors and often makes them unpleasant. This may be more debilitating in some ways than loss of smell.
Parosmia suggests that the sense of smell is returning. However, it may continue for an extended period of time and can also make certain foods intolerable. The worst offenders usually include fried foods, eggs, coffee, and chocolate.
Some patients may say that theyre smelling odors that arent there, - a distortion called phantosmia. Theyre smelling cigarette smoke or rotting garbage.
The Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research had published a report in June that noted that 7% of the 4,000 COVID-19 patients had distorted sense of smell. Having a parosmia in case of COVID-19, or any other viral upper respiratory infection that causes loss of smell, is in a way a good thing as it suggests that the individual making new connections and is getting a regeneration of that olfactory tissue and returning to normal. [WebMD Health News]
Dr KK Aggarwal
President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA
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