« What I miss most is the smell of my sons when I kiss them, it is the smell of my wife’s body, the smell of my dad. Anosmia cuts you off from the smells of life, it’s a torture “, Confides Jean-Michel Maillard, president of the association Anosmie.org.
No more everyday pleasures like the scent of coffee in the morning, freshly cut lawn or even ” the so reassuring smell of soap on her skin when preparing for an appointment »… « We discover smell when we lose it “, Regrets this forty-something, who became anosmic following an accident. Not to mention the problem of not being able to detect gas, smoke or an improperly washed garbage can.
Meals are also disturbed because 90% of what we eat is related to smell. ” Differentiating a Bordeaux from a Burgundy, differentiating a beef stew from a Marengo veal, it’s smell ”Notes Alain Corré, ENT specialist at the Rothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris. ” There are dozens of causes of anosmia “, Explains the specialist citing nasal polyposis, chronic rhinitis, diabetes, Alzheimer, Parkinson … and now the Covid-19.
In this case, it is even a pathognomonic symptom, that is to say a clinical sign which, by itself, makes it possible to establish the diagnosis.
« When people lose their sense of smell and there is no recovery, there is a real deterioration in the quality of life and a rate of depression that is not negligible at all Adds Alain Corré.
The problem, when this handicap sets in
: « to be deprived of smell for a month, it does not matter. Two months, it’s starting to be embarrassing. But after 6 months, you are all alone, under a glass bell
“, Says Jean-Michel Maillard. ” There is a very difficult psychological dimension to live with, you have to get help ».
No specific treatment but rehabilitation
There is no specific treatment for smell disorder. We must treat the cause but ” the problem with anosmias linked to the virus is that often the treatment of viral infection has no effect on smell », Specifies Dr. Corré. ” According to the first figures, about 80% of patients with Covid-19 recover spontaneously, in less than a month and often even quickly in 8-10 days. Notes the doctor.
For the others, it would seem that the olfactory neurons, which act as an odor detector, have been destroyed by the coronavirus. But the huge advantage that nature has given us is that these neurons, placed at the bottom of our nose, have a capacity for regeneration.
The Parisian hospitals Rothschild and Lariboisière have set up a “CovidORL” study and are testing the effectiveness of nose washes with cortisone (budesonide), associated with olfactory rehabilitation. A treatment which has proven its effectiveness on post-cold anosmia, “a hope”, for Alain Corré.
Olfactory rehabilitation allows to continue stimulating cognitive functions, associative pathways that combine memory and smell.
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