Anosmia

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Anosmia

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you did not have one of your five senses? At some point in our lives we have all seen a blind or deaf person but how often do we wonder what it would be like if we were in their shoes? Many people take their senses for granted, not giving much thought to the fact that something as simple as bumping your head the wrong way or getting a cold could take away your sense of smell forever. Anosmia is the total loss of the sense of smell and affects approximately two million Americans (Wuensch, 2001). Of all the five senses, smell seems to be the least appreciated due to our society's beliefs that sight and hearing are more important for survival (Gillyatt, 1997). For most people, once they start to notice a decrease in their hearing or sight they go to the doctor almost immediately to fix the problem. However, because the sense of taste and smell are so closely related, many people attribute the problem to a lack of taste and do not see their doctor until the damage is irreversible (Thomson, 2001). Anosmia is a condition in which although there are mild cases, more serious cases do exist which may jeopardize the victim's life. This disorder not only affects the person's life and safety, but also has psychological effects as well . In any case, anosmia should not only be taken seriously, but research should be continued in the hopes of finding better treatments.

Lacking a sense of smell has similar psychological effects as those related to losing one's sight or hearing. For example, many blind people feel cut off from the world and isolated. This case is also seen in many people with anosmia. Some people with anosmia feel physically and socially vulnerable as well a...

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...ed, Suckling, Suzuki, Swift, & Williams (2001). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of odor indentification: The effect of aging. Journals of Gerontology, 56A(12), M756-760.

Gillyatt, P., (1997). Loss of smell: when the nose doesn't know. Harvard Health Letter, 22, 6-8.

Morgan (2000). Olfactory event-related potentials in Alzheimer's disease. Dissertation Abstracts International, 61(5-B), 2773.

Ogawa & Rutka (1999). Olfactory dysfunction in head ingured workers. Acta Oto-Laryngologica, 119(540), 50-57.

Thomson, Corp. (2001). Senses- Loss of Smell: How it happens and what it means. Harvard College.

Toller, Van (1999). Assessing the impact of anosmia: review of a questionnaire's findings. Chemical Senses, 24(6), 705-712.

Wuensch, L. (2001, November 10). How frequent is anosmia? [Online]. Available: http://www.personal.ecu.edu/wuenschk/anos-freq.htm

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