Anosmia

ALSO KNOWN AS

Smelling difficulties

DESCRIPTION

* Smelling problems occur either because of obstruction or injury of nasal passages, or due to problems with neurological processing. There are multiple causes, as listed below.



CAUSE

* Aging
* Nasal Obstruction
* Allergies
* Sinusitis
* Viral Rhinitis (Cold)
* nasal polyps
* Nasal tumors
* Brain/Head tumors
* Head trauma
* Diabetes Mellitus
* Hypothyroidism
* Cushing's Syndrome
* Nutritional problems
* Anxiety disorders
* Lead Poisoning
* Prolonged use of nasal decongestants
* Medications e.g. estrogen, phenothiazines
* Drugs such as amphetamines (speed)
* Cocaine abuse (nasally inhaled)
* Parkinson's Disease
* Alzheimer's disease
* Korsakoff's Psychosis
* Vitamin B12 Deficiency
* Zinc deficiency
* Kallmann's syndrome



TREATMENT

* Treat the underlying cause
* For sudden neurosensory loss (neurosensory system is not working properly for unknown reason) -- Zinc and Vitamin A replacement may be tried