Taste and smell disturbances

The sense of taste or flavor is actually a combination of the sensations that the taste buds pick up on the tongue and the sense of smell, both working by reaction of chemicals on receptors.

The four basic flavors are usually identified:

• Candy
• Acid
• Bitter
• Salty

The combinations of these flavors, together with the texture, temperature, smell and sensations of the general sensory system produce the sense of flavors. These are what allows you to know if you are eating hazelnuts or salmon. Many of the flavors are recognized primarily by smell. For example, to recognize chocolate or coffee is easier if you perceive the smell when they are preparing them.

It is admitted that the sense of smell is most acute between the ages of 30 and 60. This sense declines after 60 and in an appreciable proportion of the elderly the ability to smell and taste is lost. This loss affects nutrition, since the taste of food is lost, which reduces appetite and sometimes intake, with the risk of malnutrition. Likewise, with the reduction or loss of smell, a sense of vital alertness is lost in the face of risk situations such as gas leaks, smoke from fires, food in poor condition, etc.

The causes of these alterations can be:

• Upper respiratory tract infections.
• Head injuries that can cause damage to these senses.
• Polyps in the nose or sinuses.
• Hormonal changes or problems that can lead to taste and smell damage.
• Prolonged use of various medications (due to dry mouth or primary alteration of the sensory receptors); They can be antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, psychotropic, etc.
• smoking, exposure to tobacco smoke decreases the ability to identify odors and decreases the sense of taste.
• Radiation therapy for head and neck tumors, as well as some neurological diseases.

The solution to taste and smell alterations is basically the treatment of the cause if it is identified: control of upper tract infections, decrease in inflammation of polyps or their removal, suspension or change of the drugs involved, smoking cessation, etc. In addition to these measures, there is no specific treatment for the alteration of these senses or to recover the loss, so it is very important to identify the causes that are reversible for its early control.