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A Question of Health - Losing the scent Q. I seem to be losing my sense of smell. Other people in the house are able to smell things that I can't. For example, we have a bread machine that bakes bread overnight. When we wake in the morning my wife notices the smell of baking bread immediately. I don't smell it until I'm standing right next to the bread machine. Is there any sinister reason why this is happening, or is it one of the things that happens with age? I'm in my early fifties. A. There is a long list of possible causes of loss of the sense of smell. Most of these are obscure things, like injuries to the skull that cause damage the olfactory nerves - the nerves that connect the nose to the brain. People who have allergic nasal problems, such as allergic rhinitis, sometimes lose their sense of smell when their allergies are bad, but the sense of smell can return when the allergy is under control. People who have nasal polyps sometimes have difficulty smelling things. Of course, even a common cold can cause a temporary loss of smell. More worrying, perhaps, is the fact that loss of the sense of smell has been linked to both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Recent research has identified a possible reason why smell may be impaired in these diseases. Unfortunately, none of the available treatments for either Parkinson's or Alzheimer's seems to help bring back the sense of smell. SOURCE: Independent, UK http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=515359 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn