How are smell and taste disorders diagnosed?
The extent of loss of smell or taste can be tested using the lowest concentration of a chemical that a person can detect and recognize. A patient may also be asked to compare the smells or tastes of different chemicals, or how the intensities of smells or tastes grow when a chemical concentration is increased. • Smell. Scientists have developed an easily administered “scratch-and-sniff” test to evaluate the sense of smell. • Taste. Patients react to different chemical concentrations in taste testing; this may involve a simple “sip, spit, and rinse” test, or chemicals may be applied directly to specific areas of the tongue. Can smell and taste disorders be treated? Sometimes a certain medication is the cause of smell or taste disorders, and improvement occurs when that medicine is stopped or changed. Although certain medications can cause chemosensory problems, others-particularly anti-allergy drugs-seem to improve the senses of taste and smell. Some patients, notably those with serious
