How Common Are Smell and Taste Disorders?
One study estimates that more than two million Americans have smell and taste disorders. Another estimate suggests that more than 200,000 people visit a physician for a smell or taste problem each year. Many more smell and taste disturbances go unreported. Are Smell and Taste Disorders Serious? A person with a faulty sense of smell and taste is deprived of an early warning system that most of us take for granted. Smell and taste alert us to fires, poisonous fumes, leaking gas, and spoiled foods. Loss of the sense of smell may also be a sign of sinus disease, growths in the nasal passages or, in rare circumstances, brain tumors. Because an intact sense of smell and taste is required in some professions, chefs and firemen, among others, may be subject to serious economic hardship. How Do Smell and Taste Work? Smell and taste belong to our chemical sensing system, or chemosensation. The complicated processes of smelling and tasting begin when molecules released by the substances around us
