If you’ve lost your sense of smell or taste (or both) to COVID-19, you’re in the majority. Nearly 86 percent of COVID-19 patients lose their ability to smell to some degree and sometimes entirely. The good news? Recent studies show that 95 percent recover these senses within six months of having the illness — most within two to three weeks.
People who lose their sense of smell to any degree or who experience a change in the way they perceive odors are said to suffer from olfactory dysfunction (OD), which also impairs their sense of taste. If you can’t smell anything, you have anosmia.
If you can smell odors to some degree but not as well as you normally do, you have hyposmia. And if you can’t taste anything, you have a rare condition called ageusia.
Most people who lose their sense of smell or taste draw the obvious conclusion that something’s wrong with their sensory organs — their nose or sinuses or their tongue or tastebuds. After all, that’s where these sensations come from.
And, yes, that’s often the case. Our sinuses can get so stuffy that the molecules responsible for producing a smell can’t reach the odor receptors embedded in our nasal tissue. When it comes to taste, we often lose tastebuds as we age. They shrink, which diminishes our sense of taste. But this isn’t the case when we lose these senses to COVID-19.
The physiological chain of events responsible for our sense of smell and taste involves more than just taste and odor receptors. Those receptors send signals along nerves to the brain, and the brain must process the signals it receives.
Any obstruction or dysfunction along that pathway from the point of reception to the point of perception can impair the ability to smell or taste. When we lose our sense of smell or taste (or both) to COVID-19, the problem is in the brain.
Focusing Diagnosis and Treatment on the Brain
Traditional treatments for anosmia, hyposmia, and ageusia target conditions that impact the sensory receptors, such as treating sinus allergies or nasal polyps to clear the sinuses.
Other treatments, such as olfactory retraining, attempt to restore function to the nerves that carry signals from the sensory receptors to the brain. This retraining involves sniffing different scents daily to build and strengthen neural connections.
Neither of these treatments tends to work for restoring the sense of smell and taste when they’re lost to COVID-19. The problem isn’t with the sensory receptors or the wiring between the receptors and the brain. The problem is in the brain. The focus needs to be on diagnosing and treating lingering symptoms of COVID-19 that affect brain health and function.
Approximately 10 percent of COVID-19 patients are considered long haulers, which means their symptoms last for several months after the infection is no longer active. This helps to explain why it can take so long for some patients to recover their sense of smell and taste.
How We Diagnose and Treat Brain-Related Olfactory Dysfunction
Here’s what we do at BioDesign Wellness Center to diagnose and treat the underlying cause(s) of brain-related olfactory dysfunction:
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Testing: We order a comprehensive blood analysis from SectraCell to check your levels of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that are responsible for reducing inflammation.
This valuable lab test is often overlooked in routine healthcare. While we use labs from Quest and LabCorp for other purposes, they often require dozens of vials of blood to perform vitamin, antioxidant, and mineral tests.
This isn’t necessary and can be done in our office with a single vial, making these important blood markers readily
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Patient history: We take a unique approach to diagnosing and treating each patient based on their history and current symptoms. After our initial evaluation, we may order one or more of the following tests to identify the underlying cause(s) of dysfunction:
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- MRI with NeuroQuant: NeuroQuant is software that analyzes a brain MRI and measures the volume of more than 35 different brain structures. This enables us to identify any inflammation in various parts of the brain that can impact smell, taste, memory, and more.
- Various lab tests to check for any blood-brain barrier (BBB) breach: Here, we’re looking at calcium-binding proteins and zonulin (a protein that modulates the permeability of tight junctions between cells of the wall of the digestive tract). These proteins are closely correlated with the leaky gut syndrome — a condition in which gaps form in the wall of the digestive tract allowing allergens and toxins to enter the bloodstream and trigger an immune response, which can lead to a host of inflammatory conditions. The leaky gut syndrome can cause harmful substances to enter the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier to reach the brain.
- A Cyrex lab test/array to check for autoimmune markers: This test/array can identify early autoimmune markers that affect taste and smell. Autoimmunity is a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks organs or tissues of the body.
- Lab tests for pathogens and toxins: We look for pathogens (viral, bacterial, and parasitic) and toxins (from mold and Lyme disease) that can trigger olfactory dysfunction — especially if other systems of the body are weak.
- Lab tests to measure hormone levels: Optimizing hormones can reduce brain and body inflammation.
- Screening and testing for mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS): Mast cells release histamine and other chemicals that mediate the body’s immune response to infection and other threats. WithMCAS, mast cells episodically release excessive amounts of histamines, causing hives, swelling, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing, and diarrhea. Abnormally high levels of mast cell mediators may also contribute to an impaired or lost sense of taste and smell.
- Tests for heavy metals: Heavy metal toxicity can tie up the brain and impact the senses of taste and smell.
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Customized treatment plan: Based on our initial evaluation and test results, we develop a treatment plan for addressing the loss of taste and smell by treating the underlying causes. Treatments vary but always target specific causes.
At BioDesign Wellness, we have had a number of patients report an impaired sense of smell or taste since the beginning of the COVID-19 health pandemic. We are also seeing patients who have developed postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) after having a COVID infection.
It seems the inflammation impacts the nervous and immune systems causing an imbalance or overload. The good news is that with comprehensive care, chronic symptoms stemming from COVID dissipate or are completely relieved.
One of our most recent patients with post-COVID inflammation complained of fatigue, memory lapses, and an impaired sense of taste. At 65 years old, she was concerned that this would be her “new normal.” After 30 days of treatment to reduce brain inflammation — with the use of peptides (including BPC-157), antioxidants, and vitamin C — she recovered completely.
If you are struggling with symptoms that were aggravated or initiated by COVID-19, don’t put off diagnosis or treatment. Damage from inflammation can progress over time. Set up a consultation and evaluation by scheduling with our Tampa functional medicine clinic today.
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Disclaimer: The information in this blog post about the loss of smell and/or taste is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect current medical thinking or practices. No information contained in this post should be construed as medical advice from the medical staff at BioDesign Wellness Center, Inc., nor is this post intended to be a substitute for medical counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate medical advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a licensed medical professional in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.