What is Anosmia?
Anosmia is the loss of the sense of smell. Losing this sense can be very dangerous. Can you imagine if you can't smell a gas leak or smoke if your house is on fire? A person with anosmia would not be able to smell if their food was going bad.
It can have many causes. A severe cold, a viral infection, nose polyps but importantly for me, it can be one of the first signs of Parkinson's Disease. 96% Parkinson's patients have Anosmia.
Recently, I read that using aromatherapy oils can restore the sense of smell in people who have Anosmia because of a virus. It set me wondering .... would it restore the sense of smell to a Parkinson's patient?
I have set myself a 12-week challenge and we are only on day 3. We are going to do smelling activities using essential oils.
Blarney Castle and Gardens, County Corkon 06/01/2023
An Cóbh, Corcaigh, Eireon 05/29/2023
Dublin ; The Book of Kellson 04/04/2023
The Bee Tree Community CIC;- an online support communityon 08/24/2022
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The 12 week project to regain my husband's sense of smell has reached its end period. See my conclusions in the article above and what will my next step be ?
The 12 week project to regain my husband's sense of smell has reached its end period. See my conclusions in the article above and what will my next step be ?
Tolovaj,
Thank you for the support. It means a lot to me.
Exactly, I quite expected his sense of taste to be totally diminished but it hasn't been.
I am weighing up the outcomes of my aromatherapy project as 4th March 2020 will be 12 weeks, which was what I had planned originally.
Initial results suggest that …. :-
- his sense of smell is only partially restored.
- Citrus smells were totally gone for weeks but his citrus smells are restored, every time.
- cinnamon smell isn't restored
- lavender isn't restored fully, He can smell my lavender pillow spray but not lavender oil .
But here I am focussing on negatives when I should be focussing on positives.
I will only know if I stop the project and try again in 2 or 3 weeks after stopping. Have I got the confidence to stop it now? I doubt it.
It is very important to know though that sense of smell can disappear at least 10 years before the onset of Parkinson's. Be aware and get medical advice if your sense of smell disappears.
It's interesting to know the sense of smell and sense of taste are not so closely related as i would expected. Evolutionary these senses were definitely developed together. I wish you (and your husband) all the best with aromatherapy.
Indeed, Catholicism is a kind religion .
Veronica, for sick people lenten fasting is not recommended or required. He should exempt himself from fasting. Being ill is hard enough.
Thank you dearest BSG. Your kindly support always keeps me going.
My husband is doing very well . We now have 16 scents daily plus lavender pillow spray and room scents. The only scents he can't get are cinnamon and sage still . Interesting as these are beneficial for Parkinson's patients. He now smells scents in various places. He had no sense of smell before. At first though he couldn't scent anything citrus. That has come back now and he can smell citrus.
I am partly anxious about stopping the project as he may "go backwards."
He loves the cinnamon bread and is getting through one loaf a week. Of course Lent is coming !! But he won't be giving his cinnamon loaf up. :)
Success can be slow, but always persevere. The result will be worth the effort.
UPDATE
7 weeks into the project now, more than half way.
On Saturday evening, my husband smelt bread baking in another room. This is a huge step forward.
I have found that cinnamon and sage are helpful for Parkinson's patients. He cannot smell either of these so I have made him a cinnamon loaf in the hope that this might help.
Thank you BSG and Happy new year .
Yesterday my husband smelt the dishwashing liquid when he was sorting the dishes.! It is taking time but there has been an improvement .