Help - I Can't Smell!
The sense of SMELL is one of our five basic senses - apart from touch, vision, hearing and taste. It is a higher and an aesthetic sense which, apart from helping us get the flavour out of food (Flavour is a combination of the sense of Taste and Smell) also helps us appreciate the finer things around us. It has a very strong connection with the Limbic system - because as we all know a particular smell can take us down memory lane to very specific experiences in our life. Anosmia is described as the loss of the sense of smell. Anosmia may be temporary or permanent depending on the cause of the problem and the extent of the lesion/ damage. TYPES Abnormalities in the sense of smell can be of various types - HYPOSMIA - Reduction in the sense of smell - due to lower transmission of nerve impulses. ANOSMIA - Complete loss of sense of smell - due to a complete break in the transmission of nerve impulses. PAROSMIA - an abnormal sense of smell - due to abnormal cross-...