Board junket to Hawaii? That flunks the smell test

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S7) ◽  
pp. 2-2
Keyword(s):  
2009 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertold Renner ◽  
Christian A. Mueller ◽  
Juergen Dreier ◽  
Stefanie Faulhaber ◽  
Wolfgang Rascher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pragyanshu Khare ◽  
Atul Munish Chander ◽  
Kanhaiya Agrawal ◽  
Satyam Singh Jayant ◽  
Soham Mukherjee ◽  
...  

Loss of smell function (Anosmia) is reported to be associated with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of an indigenously developed prototype smell test to identify/diagnose asymptomatic COVID-19 positive individuals. A panel of five different odorants belonging to Indian household with unique and mutually exclusive odor were used to develop prototype kit to test the hypothesis. The developed prototype kit was tested at 2 centers (N=49 and 34) with slight modifications. Simultaneously, the kit was also tested on 55 (N=35 and 20) healthy controls. Our results indicate that otherwise asymptomatic COVID-19 positive individuals were having quantifiable deficit in smell sensation. Interestingly, the variable sensitivity of different odorants was observed in different patients. None of the healthy controls reported difficulty in sensing any of the odorant, whereas, some of healthy controls did misidentify the odorants. Overall, the present study provides a preliminary data that loss in smell sensation for various odorants can be exploited as a quick and affordable screening test to identify infected cases among at risk individuals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1116-1116
Author(s):  
Patricia A Pimental ◽  
Anna Ciampanelli ◽  
Eisha H Vora

Abstract Objective Patients with COVID-19 and PASC may exhibit chemosensory dysfunction associated with acute neuroinflammation from immune system overactivation (Uzunova, Pallanti, & Hollander, 2021). Neuropsychiatric disturbances in patients with no history of anxiety or depression have also been reported. These central nervous system manifestations of COVID-19 may be sequelae of trans-olfactory and infralimbic tract penetration (Speth et al., 2020). Methods Our case involved a 52-year-old, right-handed, American Indian female, who at three months post neuropsychological evaluation, was diagnosed with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 with onset of complete anosmia and ageusia. Two months later, a sudden-onset of panic and depression occurred with no precipitating event. All symptoms were documented daily until return of function. Results Pre-COVID-19 neuropsychological testing revealed findings consistent with ophthalmologic/vestibular migraine and ruled out dementia, and formal anxiety and depressive disorders. Post-COVID-19 neuropsychological analysis and follow-up revealed that anosmia and ageusia had largely resolved after 8-months, and that the delayed sudden-onset panic and depression also resolved within that same time period. Conclusions A paucity of data exists concerning COVID-19 and PASC anosmia and ageusia, and sudden-onset neuropsychiatric symptoms. Our case is unique since neuropsychological testing preceded the COVID-19 infection, which provided a baseline of functioning (e.g., Pocket Smell Test: 3/3 baseline and 0/3 acute COVID-19) and pre-morbid diagnostic specificity. The present case findings align with Cappali and Gatti (2021) whereby 91% of patients reported olfactory recovery, with 53% total recovery after 8-months. No other known reports simultaneously documented detailed recovery of anosmia, ageusia and delayed sudden-onset panic and depression, and COVID-19 antibody laboratory testing.


Author(s):  
Carolina Chaves ◽  
Joana Marto ◽  
Mário Santos ◽  
Filipa Duarte‐Ramos ◽  
Armando Alcobia ◽  
...  

2010 ◽  
Vol 119 (11) ◽  
pp. 749-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuhisa Ikeda ◽  
Hidenori Yokoi ◽  
Takeshi Kusunoki ◽  
Tatuya Saitoh ◽  
Toru Yao ◽  
...  

Objectives The link between nasal and bronchial disease has been studied extensively for chronic rhinosinusitis and asthma. The concept of “united airway allergy” has become widely accepted in the past decade. We evaluated the relationship between the upper and lower airways during follow-up after endoscopic sinus surgery by monitoring sinonasal and pulmonary functions. Methods Thirty-nine subjects with chronic rhinosinusitis associated with bronchial asthma were entered in this study. A self smell test using stick-type odorant materials was carried out daily to evaluate postoperative recurrence of sinonasal disease. Each patient was assessed for peak expiratory flow (PEF) 3 times daily. Results The average (±SD) scores of initial symptoms were 8.3 ± 2.2, which was significantly decreased to 1.5 ± 1.4 by 3 months after operation. During postoperative follow-up, 25 of 39 patients showed no decrease in PEF, whereas the other 14 patients had at least 1 episode of a significant decline in PEF. In the postoperative course, with respect to the self smell test, 24 patients showed no aggravation of smell, but 15 patients had episode(s) of decreased olfaction. Twelve patients demonstrated worsening on the smell test concomitant with a decreased PEF. A discrepancy between olfactory acuity and pulmonary function was recognized in 5 patients. There were 22 patients with a good prognosis of parameters of both the upper and lower airways. Conclusions Daily monitoring of both upper and lower respiratory tract functions clearly revealed dual relationships, indicating that worsening of sinusitis accompanies asthma exacerbation. Appropriate measures of the upper and lower airways following endoscopic sinus surgery can be used to predict patient outcome.


2002 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. BOSKER ◽  
N. J. HOEKSTRA ◽  
E. A. LANTINGA

Fresh cattle dung from four farms with different feeding strategies was used to create artificial dung pats in a continuously grazed pasture in order to compare the rejection of herbage growing around the pats, the effect on undisturbed herbage growth under cages and pat decomposition. The first farm was an extensive organic farm (ORGE) with young steers grazing on a biodiverse sward. The second was an intensive organic farm (ORGI) with dairy cattle grazing on a grass/clover sward during the day and fed low-protein forages indoors. The third dung used was from an integrated farm (INT), where the feeding strategy was aiming for high dung quality by including straw in the diet. The fourth examined dung was from a conventional farm (CONV) aiming for a high milk production per cow, where fertilized grazed grass was the main component of the diet. A human smell test was performed to rank the odour of the four dungs.After 6 weeks of continuous grazing with dairy cattle, herbage yield around INT pats tended to be lowest, whilst undisturbed herbage yield in and around caged INT pats was highest (P<0·05). Therefore, it could be concluded that rejection was lowest for INT. The CONV pats gave highest rejection (P<0·05). However, herbage yield around the dung pats under grazing showed no significant correlation with both the human smell test and the contents of total-N and sugar in the rejected herbage.The feeding strategy had a significant effect on the decomposition of dung pats under the cages. After 6 weeks, the most liquid and least fibrous dung (CONV) showed highest decomposition (P<0·05), whilst decomposition of the most solid and fibrous dung (ORGE) tended to be lowest. However, no relationship was found between the decomposition of dung and the rejection of herbage around the dung pats.When combining a number of parameters determined in the experiment and comparing them using index figures for dung quality in terms of rejection, herbage growth and decomposition, the index figures of ORGI (102) and especially INT (113) were above average (100), while those of ORGE (94) and CONV (90) were below average. The difference between ORGI and INT might be explained by the addition of straw to the diet in the latter. The study showed that there are possibilities to improve dung quality by altering feeding strategy.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. e145-e148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris R. Haxel ◽  
Shannon Bertz-Duffy ◽  
Andreas Faldum ◽  
Sokrates Trellakis ◽  
Bernhard Stein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayela Rodríguez-Violante ◽  
Andrew J. Lees ◽  
Amin Cervantes-Arriaga ◽  
Teresa Corona ◽  
Laura Silveira-Moriyama

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. S203-S204
Author(s):  
L.B. Thrane Christensen ◽  
E. Larsson ◽  
I.E. Holm ◽  
O.B.F. Nielsen ◽  
L. Bojesen ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresita Joseph ◽  
Stephen D. Auger ◽  
Luisa Peress ◽  
Daniel Rack ◽  
Jack Cuzick ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundHyposmia features in several neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) is a widely used screening tool for detecting hyposmia, but is time-consuming and expensive when used on a large scale.MethodsWe assessed shorter subsets of UPSIT items for their ability to detect hyposmia in 891 healthy participants from the PREDICT-PD study. Established shorter tests included Versions A and B of both the 4-item Pocket Smell Test (PST) and 12-item Brief Smell Identification Test (BSIT). Using a data-driven approach, we evaluated screening performances of 23,231,378 combinations of 1-7 smell items from the full UPSIT.ResultsPST Versions A and B achieved sensitivity/specificity of 76.8%/64.9% and 86.6%/45.9% respectively, whilst BSIT Versions A and B achieved 83.1%/79.5% and 96.5%/51.8% for detecting hyposmia defined by the longer UPSIT. From the data-driven analysis, two optimised sets of 7 smells surpassed the screening performance of the 12 item BSITs (with validation sensitivity/specificities of 88.2%/85.4% and 100%/53.5%). A set of 4 smells (Menthol, Clove, Gingerbread and Orange) had higher sensitivity for hyposmia than PST-A, -B and even BSIT-A (with validation sensitivity 91.2%). The same 4 smells also featured amongst those most commonly misidentified by 44 individuals with PD compared to 891 PREDICT-PD controls and a screening test using these 4 smells would have identified all hyposmic patients with PD.ConclusionUsing abbreviated smell tests could provide a cost-effective means of screening for hyposmia in large cohorts, allowing more targeted administration of the UPSIT or similar smell tests.


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