Everyday, WhatsApp groups, Opera Mini, Chrome , Google, Facebook, YouTube etc. etc. are filled with gargantuan news about covid-19. Almost every body is now an expert on COVID-19. Yet thousands of people are dying daily all over the world.
But since World Health Organization(WHO), included loss of smell and taste as two of the signs and symptoms of covid-19, my respondents have been anxious to know “how covid-19 causes loss of smell and taste”.
My sister-in-law, who lives in Bonny Camp Rivers State, sent me a panicky WhatsAppq s.o.s, 3 weeks ago, that she suddenly lost her sense of smell and taste, and erroneously concluded that she must be suffering from corona virus. She refused to be persuaded, by my argument, that there was a reported gas explosion, around Bonny Camp, which resulted in people losing their senses of smell and taste, and even death.
In an extensive research done by WEBMD Medical dissertation they reviewed the likely cause of loss of smell and taste. And came up with the following medical facts.
2. The smell taste connection.
• When your sense of smell goes south, taste usually follows. That is because the olfactory area in your nose controls both.
• When you chew food, odor molecules enter the back of your nose. Your taste buds tell you if a food is sweet, sour, bitter or salty.
• Your nose figures out specifics, like if that sweet taste is grape, or an apple. If you plug up your nose, food does not taste the same, because you cannot smell it.
2. Age.
• As you age, you lose some of the olfactory nerve fibers in your nose. You have fewer taste buds, and the ones you have left are not as sharp, especially over age 60.
• This often affects your ability to notice salty or sweet tastes first, do not add more salt or sugar to your foods. That could cause other health issues.
3. Covid-19, illness or infection.
• Anything that irritates and inflames the inner lining of your nose and makes it feel stuffy, runny, itchy or dry can affect your senses of smell and taste.
• This includes, common cold, sinus infection, allergies, sneezing, Congestion, the flu and of course the almighty covid-19.
• In most cases your senses will return to normal when you feel better. If it lasts a couple of weeks, consult your doctor.
4. Obstruction.
• If you cannot get enough air through your nose, your sense of smell suffers. And smell affects taste.
• Blockages happen if you have nasal polyp, which could be aggravated by covid-19. There are non cancerous tumors that grow in the lining of your nose and sinuses.
• Or you could have a deviated septum, which when combined with covid-19, makes one of your nasal passages smaller, than the other. In each case you need to be put in a ventilator.
• If you do not have covid-19, this could be treated with nasal sprays, medications or surgery. This contribute to why people with pre-existing conditions easily succumb to covid-19.