A new study has revealed that a fraction of patients who have been diagnosed with COVID19 and are undergoing long-lasting side effects of the disease are not able to enjoy common food items. Experts have termed this condition as Parosmia. People affected by this condition, deal with an altered sense of smell. Dr. David Beckham, who is a neuro-infectious disease expert at Colorado’s UC Health, has said that many large scale studies have found that this type of neurological side effect of COVID19 can be found in patients who are struggling with elongated side effects of the disease after being diagnosed with COVID19. He has said that nearly 25 percent of patients with COVID19, he has seen so far, have been diagnosed with smell or taste abnormalities.
Dr. David Beckham has said that studies have shown that this condition takes place when the SARS-CoV-2 virus damages nerves in a region of the sinuses. He has said that it can significantly disrupt the signals, which are essential to go from the sensory nerves in the nose to the brain. However, he has been able to explain why some patients deal with this condition and some do not. However, patients will be able to recover from it over time, said the expert. The recovery depends on how much damage has been done to the nerves. Amanda Frankeny, a dietician, has said that she has started dealing with this condition a week after she has been diagnosed with COVID19. She has said that she was not able to smell any food item properly. Along with the smell, she has lost her sense of taste as well within a couple of days. After she has recovered from this condition, no food seems to be appetizing to her. She has experienced a distorted sense of smell and taste.
A retrospective cohort study has looked at patients who have lost their sense of smell after being diagnosed with the disease. Around 14 patients have been included in the study. The authors of the study have observed the link between smell-loss related factors and changes in overall and sub dimensional olfactory working of the threshold, inequity, and detection. They have found that people with lower baseline olfactory function are more likely to have significant improvement in overall olfactory function. People with lower baseline olfactory performance with Parosmia will have an improvement in discrimination function; they are more likely to have significant improvement in odor detection as well.
