Living without smell: a drama we do not talk about and which affects even the most intimate – 03/12/2019

"Do you have any idea how it feels to not feel your own baby?" Veronica Moretti makes small piles with her fingers. She shares a moment of great intimacy, the birth of her first daughter, Lola, and how she was marked by a little known disability: lack of smell or, in clinical jargon, anosmia, a kind of blindness for which she does not smell, is captivating, intoxicating or nauseating. In addition, it is Insensitive to flavor. "80% of the taste is crossed by the smell", Warns that in anguish all the clinical material has been read by hand.

According to the study on the frequency of olfactory dysfunctions (published by the American Society of Laryngology, Rhinology and Otology), 5% of people suffer from anosmia (zero odor) and 16%, a hyposmia, c & 39; that is to say an alteration of the olfactory capacity. This is to say that More than 20% of the world's population suffers from complications related to smell. A survey conducted in the city of Buenos Aires in 2011 is added, with similar results: 12.2% of respondents had some degree of hyposmia. The problem is this is not known

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"You tell them not to smell and the doctors chartered you", Protested, as if they had accepted, those consulted for this report.They say that the guard otorrino explained to them that"these are things that paaasan "with age, the smell is lost, that allergies, colds … that we can not do anything.

Memories in the air

Jorge Iuliano is a man of great patience. Live in Flores. She is 63 years old and has been working for 40 years in the automotive aftermarket sector: "I have been suffering from rhinitis for over 20 or 50 years. Easy 30 years with stuffy nose. They told me that I was allergic to pollen and they gave me treatments, they punched me, everything. But when you do not improve, you give up. "Jorge does not smell.

That's why he went to see Stella Cuevas, medical allergist, president of the Otolaryngology Association of the city of Buenos Aires.

A few years ago, this doctor understood that there were no specialists in the sense of smell in Argentina and that there was not even the clinical specialty: This was a vacant space. Today, she is one of the few experts in the country, made up of a recognized Spanish doctor in this field, Ramona Soler Vilarrasa, head of rhinology at Son Dureta Hospital (Palma from Mallorca, Spain).

"The olfactory anatomy is so fine that very few are dedicated to it," said Cuevas. And described in detail this magical and automated moment: feel

"The odorous particles in the air and captured by the olfactory epithelium, in the roof of the nose, enter through the nose or through food and reach the olfactory cell, where there are different receptors. the particle undergoes a transformation: from the chemical substance to the electrical information"

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It is difficult, but it becomes interesting: "The information goes to the olfactory nerve, connected to the anterior lobe of the brain, just behind the forehead. Eye, you still did not feel anything. A second sequence is missing when the information is sent to different olfactory centers. Once it reaches the primary center, the brain registersthere is an odor& # 39; You still do not know what smell. "

"Just in the secondary olfactory center, you start to decode something like"mmm … weird smell, rich, ugly& # 39; It is necessary that the data go to limbic system, consisting of three parts: the hypothalamus, which will alert you when you are thirsty, want to pee … the amygdala of the brain, this part that depressed people have damaged; and the sea ​​horse, where the memory is stored. Here is the interesting, "he said.

"Because Memory is at stake. Odors are related to memories, evoke them. That's the reason you go to a bar and you say "you're in a bar"this place reminds me of my father& # 39; The limbic system produces behavioral changes, as emotions and enthusiasm, "explained Cuevas.

And added his experience: "I come from Corrientes, here two drops fall and a fried cake is prepared.When I'm in Buenos Aires and it's raining, I immediately feel the memory of the fried cake. the smell of rain gives me emotion. "

According to a study by Rockefeller University (New York, USA), we remember 35% of what we feel (including smells related to food consumption), while only 5% of what we see, 2% of what we hear and 1% of what we are touching, "Cuevas explained.But we do not give of importance to this sense …

Except in bed. There, the sense of smell plays a preponderant role, stressed the doctor. Those who suffer from anosmia or hyposmia may manifest a disinterest in baduality.

"In the pre-badual act, the body releases pheromones that have an odor, you have your smell and your partner has theirs, who feels the one and the other and who wakes up excitation. When patients arrive, we ask them how they are badually. Many come directly from the badologist Believe that failure was another. "

Defective odor: who is it affected and why

In the number one ranking of why there is anosmia and hyposmia are the tables of rhinitis and rhinosinusitis chronic or acute, with and without polyps. "Sometimes the patient does not realize: he just has his nose covered, maybe for years," said Cuevas.

Clarin He also spoke with the Spanish doctor Ramona Soler Vilarrasa: "The most common is cold, but we also see odorless patients with tumors, neurological diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, psychopathies … and many problems. of odor occur because trauma"

Cuevas confirmed that "many injured patients arrive at the clinic and we need to ask them for an olfactometry." They are sent by ART to check if there was a real loss of smell ".

There are also people whose smell is altered by work with odoriferous substancesas in petrol stations, chemical laboratories, hairdressing salons or dental offices.

Neurodegenerative diseases are a topic: one of the symptoms of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is the loss of smell, memory problems of these pathologies. According to Soler Vilarrasa, "it is a little known fact, but the first sign of Parkinson's disease is the lack of odor. Detection and early treatment can slow down the entire degenerative process. "

Other changes are so special that they deserve to be mentioned. For example, parosmia, curious alteration of perception: Instead of feeling the coffee, the patient believes that there is an aroma of toast, to give an example.

In osmophobia, the person has an aversion or afraid of certain odors. The fantosmia is a kind of olfactory hallucination: it smells what does not exist. In bromosis there is a paranoid delirium and the patient thinks that he smells bad, so he cleans himself obsessively.

Most of the above are psychiatric pathologies. In addition, conbad or endocrine diseases, that is to say at the hormonal level, can lead to a loss of smell.

The taste of Others

In his spare parts workshop, Jorge pondered this lack that he accepted with resignation. "What perfume? Old spiceI loved it. It was used by my brother. Other scents, I do not know … I have an idea of ​​the repulsion, as a boy, of the smell of urine in the bathrooms, but I can not think of l & # 39; smell. I do not remember".

It's in treatment. Her hope is to feel the flavors again: "I did a test to see if I felt the tastes, sour, bitter, sweet and salty." Yes but I can not differentiate flavors, that is, to distinguish a strawberry from a peach, with the exception of texture. Neither a spoonful of honey nor dulce de leche. An almond and a nut are the same for me. Ice creams are all the same"

Eloisa Ferraro is killed by flowers. He said looking nostalgically at his garden in Quilmes. He is 75 years old and does not feel five years ago: "I do not feel and do not taste, I am very allergic.One day the otorrino said" I do not feel and do not taste.look ma'am, it's not going to recover& # 39; Well, I banked it. "

"You develop strategies," explained all respondents. I had to learn other skills to calm my afraid of not knowing if my baby needed a diaper changeif there was a smell of gas, if the food was burning, "Verónica replied.

He added: "There you do not remember if you put deodorant. I've learned to ask my daughters for help … they laugh at each other. Or I ask my husband to choose a perfume for me. But there are inevitable things, like having salt when cooking. "

Speaking of gastronomy, for Eloisa "the kitchen is complicated, but also eat. You stop having the desire I try to have the idea of ​​taste, but when everyone says at the table & # 39;it's good& # 39 ;, You do not know what to say. "

Silvina Rubini, a forty years old woman from the Caballito district, is very interested in the cure. You are in treatment to come out of a moderate hyposmia. She is allergic but also an art teacher. He believes that paints and solvents have affected him.

In addition to taking different medications, the challenge of to rehabilitate the olfactory memory: "It requires perseverance. Every week I smell. And two or three times a day, I have to feel five minutes. For example, a week anise, the next, coconut or rose … I've already done 15. I cost fruit trees: mandarin, pineapple, peach. With anise, coconut and tobacco, I heard well. "

Eloísa intends to follow this path and start a treatment. He embodies the hope of suburban aromas: the house and the garden, the wet earth, the freshly cut grbad: "My greatest desire is to come into my home and smell the aroma of my clean clothes. , the open roses.And a perfume of a great lady that I use: Pravia's Hay.This is my madness. "

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