Millions of people who contracted COVID-19 are still without their sense of smell and taste months after becoming infected with the virus, according to a new medical journal report.
In the report, published on Wednesday in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), researchers analyzed 18 earlier studies of smell and taste loss conducted on multiple continents and among various demographic groups.
The study concluded that women were less likely than males to regain their senses of smell and taste. Additionally, those with more nasal congestion had a lower chance of recovering.
Around three-quarters of people who experienced taste or smell loss after contracting COVID-19 had their senses restored within 30 days, according to the analysis.
However, about 5% of patients who lost the sense of smell and taste reported that it lasted for six months or longer. Based on the report’s estimate of some 550 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, some 27 million people could be suffering from long-lasting loss of smell or taste.
“Having these now millions more people worldwide with decreased ability to smell — that may simply be a new public health crisis,” stated Dr. Zara Patel, a Stanford University rhinologist.
Losing the sense of smell has been linked to higher death rates in older adults and has been shown to have a major impact on people’s emotional and psychological health, according to Patel.
Those who have no sense of smell or taste may have greater incidences of psychiatric disorders, depression, and anxiety, according to Dr. Aria Jafari, a rhinologist at the UW Medicine Sinus Center in Seattle.
Jafari stated that in a severe case, he had to treat a patient who became malnourished after losing his sense of taste and smell.
Patel would like to see more public interest in smell and taste dysfunction research and increased funding so that researchers can explore and discover new treatments,
Still, treatments are available for those who have suffered from COVID-19-related loss of smell. Because the two senses are so closely related, regaining the sense of smell may also help with loss of taste.
Structured olfactory training can retrain the brain to distinguish various scents by having patients inhale essential oils like lemon, clove, eucalyptus, and rose twice daily to stimulate various types of neurons. Doctors frequently recommend a steroid rinse for the sinuses to reduce inflammation and facilitate training.
Omega 3 fatty acid supplements may also be beneficial for patients with smell dysfunction, according to new research published in the National Library of Medicine.