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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNew Finding: Lost Sense of Smell May Be Peculiar Clue to Coronavirus Infection
NYT
March 22, 2020
Doctor groups are recommending testing and isolation for people who lose their ability to smell and taste, even if they have no other symptoms.
Anosmia, the loss of sense of smell, and ageusia, an accompanying diminished sense of taste, have emerged as peculiar telltale signs of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and possible markers of infection.
On Friday, British ear, nose and throat doctors, citing reports from colleagues around the world, called on adults who lose their senses of smell to isolate themselves for seven days, even if they have no other symptoms, to slow the diseases spread. The published data is limited, but doctors are concerned enough to raise warnings.
We really want to raise awareness that this is a sign of infection and that anyone who develops loss of sense of smell should self-isolate, Prof. Claire Hopkins, president of the British Rhinological Society, wrote in an email. It could contribute to slowing transmission and save lives.
She and Nirmal Kumar, president of ENT UK, a group representing ear, nose and throat doctors in Britain, issued a joint statement urging health care workers to use personal protective equipment when treating any patients who have lost their senses of smell, and advised against performing nonessential sinus endoscopy procedures on anyone, because the virus replicates in the nose and the throat and an exam can prompt coughs or sneezes that expose the doctor to a high level of virus.
Two ear, nose and throat specialists in Britain who have been infected with the coronavirus are in critical condition, Dr. Hopkins said. Earlier reports from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus first emerged, had warned that ear, nose and throat specialists as well as eye doctors were infected and dying in large numbers, Dr. Hopkins said.
The British physicians cited reports from other countries indicating that significant numbers of coronavirus patients experienced anosmia, saying that in South Korea, where testing has been widespread, 30 percent of 2,000 patients who tested positive experienced anosmia as their major presenting symptom (these were mild cases).
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/health/coronavirus-symptoms-smell-taste.html
Cetacea
(7,367 posts)Very easy to do and could be a life saver, imo.If you cannot smell familiar objects you should probably get yourself tested. And do mention these findings if they tell you you are not displaying enough symptoms. Never assume that medical pros are as up to date as you are. They are over taxed and very busy.
on edit: inconclusive so far
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter_test#Attempts_at_replication
In 2014, a study was published, also in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences, which found no evidence of a left-right asymmetry in nasal function in Alzheimer's disease patients.
Cetacea
(7,367 posts)That is not a study-it's three opinions. And the cited study- did it have a name? Was that study replicated?
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Cetacea
(7,367 posts)I know a lot of people who's memories and lives were destroyed by ECT, and our own FDA recently quietly lowered the machines from Class 3 to Class 2 for children with certain conditions. They did in between Christmas and New Years despite 2000 public comments opposing it. So I get junk science. And I get profit overriding the laws of physics.
I also get junk studies, such as the ones performed by pro-ect interests, where patients are tested when still in hospital. The only long term (six months) study, partially funded by NIH and found cognitive damage in all 249 subjects. It also concluded that the degree of damage was dependent on the method and voltage used, neither which is under control by our government and are entirely up to people who do not even posses basic knowledge of electrical science.
The study was completely ignored and "safe and effective" remains the mantra, along with "we don't know how it works".
And speaking of Dr Oz, he ran an entire hour of pro-ect BS a few years ago.
I do appreciate the heads-up on the peanut butter test.
I edited it.
Also, I'm sorry that you've had to deal with it in your family. I've sen it and other forms of dementia up close as well. It's truly horrible.
Sad!
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)intrepidity
(7,296 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)kentuck
(111,094 posts)I have not been able to smell for about three years. I thought it was a long-lasting sinus problem. I thought I had "something" a few weeks ago, bad cough, some fever, some hallucinations (same dreams over and over) diarrhea - that resembled this coronavirus.
I had one antibiotic left that I did not take the last time I needed them. I took it, along with alka seltzers. It lasted two or three weeks. I never went to a doctor. The cough was very bad. But the inhaler I take for asthma seemed to helped some.
Then I started eating a lot of small mandarin oranges. Maybe 4 or 5 per day? I noticed that my smell was coming back. I could smell the coffee when I dipped it out of the container. Everything started tasting better.
Strange... I could smell again! Our bodies do talk to us, I believe.
Liberal In Texas
(13,552 posts)At the moment, no peer-reviewed study or clinical statistics show that the new coronavirus has an effect on a person's senses.
Health experts don't even know the exact symptoms experienced by everyone, though fever, dry cough, tiredness and difficulty breathing appear to be the most common so far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization.
Moreover, loss of taste and smell is associated with allergies, which is common this time of year. It is also triggered by other factors, like cigarette smoking.
Articles making these claims are citing a recommendation from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), which says anecdotal evidence shows that anosmia (smell blindness), hyposmia (a reduced ability to smell) and dysgeusia (a distorted sense of taste) seem to be associated with
"Anosmia, hyposmia, and dysgeusia in the absence of other respiratory disease such as allergic rhinitis, acute rhinosinusitis, or chronic rhinosinusitis should alert physicians to the possibility of COVID-19 infection and warrant serious consideration for self-isolation and testing of these individuals," the recommendation read.
It is impossible to self-diagnose COVID-19, and the best resource for information on symptoms will come from government agencies, like the CDC and WHO.
https://abc7chicago.com/6039557/
Native
(5,942 posts)around the world. That's pretty damn strong.