Loss of smell drives Covid-19 survivors to get creative in the kitchen “So I’m hoping this parosmia is the brain trying to fire back up and and start smelling again.”Ī new study, published Thursday in JAMA Network Open, may give Clark some hope. “I can detect smells – I just can’t really tell what they are,” Clark said.
Six months after her Covid-19 diagnosis, Clark’s nose is still in recovery. Parosmia has also been associated with a complete loss of smell and taste, called anosmia, that has become a hallmark sign of mild to moderate Covid-19 infections.
It can happen after a bad cold or sinus infection, head injury, seizures and certain drugs. “It’s not a smell I’ve ever smelled in the real world, for sure.”Ĭlark is suffering from parosmia, a distortion of smell that occurs when receptor cells in the nose don’t detect and translate odors to the brain properly. “Or what I think that might smell like,” she added. It smells like cheap tequila and ham with notes of old lady perfume,” Clark said. “The absolute worst is hand sanitizer, because it’s everywhere. Red meat smelled “hideous, rotten,” and anything with rubbing alcohol smelled “revolting.” Suddenly lots of things smelled odd, or distorted. Covid-19 causes an unusual type of smell loss.
