Anosmia is the loss of the sense of smell. It was extremely interesting to read through how Karl Wuensch's life was effected by his diagnosis of anosmia; installing special detectors for odors humans can naturally detect and taking extra caution when cooking. This section of the book allowed me to connect this to a situation lots of individuals are dealing with today.
With the whole COVID pandemic, one of the most common symptoms is losing your smell. (Thankfully) I haven't personally been effected by anosmia but some of the people I know lost their sense of smell months ago and still haven't regained it. Every couple of days or weeks, I see them sniffing very strong smelling candles and perfumes to see if they can smell a small hint of it. It's incredible to see how much smelling we actually do in our daily lives without even realizing it until it's gone.
Being a health science major, I have always been interested in understanding how/why things happen to the body. I was able to find an article from Harvard Medical School that explained how COVID affects the olfactory cells that perceive smell and why it causes the loss of smell. The link is attached below:
My friend recently had COVID and lost her sense of smell. She said she had no interest in eating since she couldn't smell or taste anything. It is very interesting to see how many people have been affected by anosmia because of COVID-19.
ReplyDeleteHi Marissa!
ReplyDeleteI have personally been affected with anosmia last year when having COVID it took me months until I was about to regain my sense of smell. I have to say you do not realize how important your sense of smell is until it is gone. I like how you connected anosmia with the COVID pandemic. It was interesting to read your perspective on anosmia and COVID. I also have to say being a health science major, I am always interested in understanding things in the body, and I love to research things all the time. Overall I enjoy reading your discussion post. Good Job!
Hi Marissa!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing. One of the moms at my old dance studio is currently suffering from anosmia and complete lost of taste for about three months now as a result of COVID. It's really scary to think about how many people are suffering from this. You did a really great job explaining everything :)