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ABSCENT MEMBERS TAKE PART IN LARGE RESEARCH STUDY ON EFFECTS OF ALTERED SMELL & TASTE
(MENAFN- EIN Presswire)
This is the first study of its kind to actively involve those experiencing anosmia (loss of smell), parosmia (distorted smell) phantosmia (phantom smells) and dysgeusia (changes to taste), in documenting the lived experience of these long-covid symptoms. AbScent members contributed thousands of posts and comments in response to research questions and gave feedback on the article before it was submitted for publication.
Lead author on the research, Dr Duika Burges Watson of Newcastle University, says:“Our findings are significant because we now can show that the impacts may not be as 'mild' as many have been led to believe. While we do not yet know the full extent of the most severe impacts, we can show that some people are really struggling with malnutrition, mental health, and they are getting very little understanding or support.”
Professor Vincent Deary of Northumbria University Newcastle, lead psychologist on the research team added,“some people are also reporting a loss of connection to other people and the world. You don't realise how important smell is to intimacy and engagement with the world until you lose it.”
Chrissi Kelly, Founder, AbScent, said;“We applaud this important work to understand the lived experience of people with smell and taste loss. Nearly 4 million people in the UK have experienced this poorly understood problem with no support. I see devastating accounts from people on a daily basis. Interest in taking part in this research was strong. People want their experiences to be recognised.”
Professor Barry Smith, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses at the University of London said,“We rely on those with loss of smell to help all of us understand what it's like to be without it, and though the detailed reports people give us of their distorted perceptions of smell we gain real insights into what is happening and how extensively it affects how we sense the world around us and ourselves.”
Four key findings from the study included:
1.No food satisfaction
Taste is picked up by food receptors on the tongue, but flavour is the total sensory experience of food when combined with smell. Loss of smell therefore seriously affects flavour. Changes to smell mean that people have lost the ability to find joy and satisfaction in food. Some people lose appetite, are unable to eat and lose weight. Others gain weight as they eat more to try to recapture lost food satisfaction
2.Intimacy becomes revulsion
Until it is gone, people do not realise that smell is an important factor in intimacy. One woman said,“His natural odour used to make me want him; now it makes me vomit.” Others report that kissing tastes bad. For some not being able monitor their own body odour led to loss of confidence and increased social anxiety.
3.Disgusting smells
With parosmia - distortion of smell - disgusting smells are triggered by everyday scents and food items. Items like onion and garlic are common triggers and can smell like vomit or sewage. What was 'fair' can become 'foul'; one person noted:“Poo now smelled better than coffee.”
4.Isolation
Covid-19 related anosmia and parosmia have no set pattern of emergence and recovery and people found it lonely navigating this without professional support. People also found it difficult to explain their symptoms to loved ones and friends, and this created further barriers between them and others. Some with anosmia reported feeling detached from themselves, others and the world in general. Where much of life's joy takes place around shared meals, cooking and socialising over drinks people felt isolated from participating in these social activities
AbScent is the charity caring about people touched by smell loss
Contact Helen Trevorrow on 0794 000 9138 or
AbScent is the charity caring about people touched by smell loss
Lack of professional support; altered eating; appetite loss & weight change; loss of pleasure in food & social engagement; altered intimacy & relationships
We applaud this important work to understand the lived experience of people with smell and taste loss. Nearly 4 million people in the UK have experienced this poorly understood problem with no support” — Chrissi Kelly, Founder, AbScentLONDON, UK, October 1, 2021 /EINPresswire.com / -- Ground-breaking research conducted by research experts with AbScent's Long Covid online group has recorded for the first time the wider impact of altered sensing on people's daily lives. The study involved users of AbScent's Covid-19 Smell and Taste Loss moderated Facebook support group from 24th March to 30th September 2020, which had 9000 members at the time. The research has been published in the peer-reviewed journalThis is the first study of its kind to actively involve those experiencing anosmia (loss of smell), parosmia (distorted smell) phantosmia (phantom smells) and dysgeusia (changes to taste), in documenting the lived experience of these long-covid symptoms. AbScent members contributed thousands of posts and comments in response to research questions and gave feedback on the article before it was submitted for publication.
Lead author on the research, Dr Duika Burges Watson of Newcastle University, says:“Our findings are significant because we now can show that the impacts may not be as 'mild' as many have been led to believe. While we do not yet know the full extent of the most severe impacts, we can show that some people are really struggling with malnutrition, mental health, and they are getting very little understanding or support.”
Professor Vincent Deary of Northumbria University Newcastle, lead psychologist on the research team added,“some people are also reporting a loss of connection to other people and the world. You don't realise how important smell is to intimacy and engagement with the world until you lose it.”
Chrissi Kelly, Founder, AbScent, said;“We applaud this important work to understand the lived experience of people with smell and taste loss. Nearly 4 million people in the UK have experienced this poorly understood problem with no support. I see devastating accounts from people on a daily basis. Interest in taking part in this research was strong. People want their experiences to be recognised.”
Professor Barry Smith, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses at the University of London said,“We rely on those with loss of smell to help all of us understand what it's like to be without it, and though the detailed reports people give us of their distorted perceptions of smell we gain real insights into what is happening and how extensively it affects how we sense the world around us and ourselves.”
Four key findings from the study included:
1.No food satisfaction
Taste is picked up by food receptors on the tongue, but flavour is the total sensory experience of food when combined with smell. Loss of smell therefore seriously affects flavour. Changes to smell mean that people have lost the ability to find joy and satisfaction in food. Some people lose appetite, are unable to eat and lose weight. Others gain weight as they eat more to try to recapture lost food satisfaction
2.Intimacy becomes revulsion
Until it is gone, people do not realise that smell is an important factor in intimacy. One woman said,“His natural odour used to make me want him; now it makes me vomit.” Others report that kissing tastes bad. For some not being able monitor their own body odour led to loss of confidence and increased social anxiety.
3.Disgusting smells
With parosmia - distortion of smell - disgusting smells are triggered by everyday scents and food items. Items like onion and garlic are common triggers and can smell like vomit or sewage. What was 'fair' can become 'foul'; one person noted:“Poo now smelled better than coffee.”
4.Isolation
Covid-19 related anosmia and parosmia have no set pattern of emergence and recovery and people found it lonely navigating this without professional support. People also found it difficult to explain their symptoms to loved ones and friends, and this created further barriers between them and others. Some with anosmia reported feeling detached from themselves, others and the world in general. Where much of life's joy takes place around shared meals, cooking and socialising over drinks people felt isolated from participating in these social activities
AbScent is the charity caring about people touched by smell loss
Contact Helen Trevorrow on 0794 000 9138 or
Helen Trevorrow
Green Row Communications Ltd
+44 1273 701344
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