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I thought I may as well weigh in on the sense of smell topic. At 47(1), I= lost my sense of smell 16 years ago. It is allergy related. I am allergi= c to dust and some type of industrial pollutant (my diagnosis) - it gets = bad when air quality is bad during the summer. Like others have indicated= , my sense of taste does not seem to have suffered. Which by the way, st= udies have shown that some people actually gain weight as their sense of = smell is diminished. Turns out that part of our sense of contentment is r= elated to smell as well as taste.=20 The sense of smell problems started about the time I installed a new wood= burning stove. I was exposed to fumes from the paint which was seasoning= the first few times I used the stove. Anything with a fermented ingredie= nt for a few days after that smelled rancid. My sense of smell degraded f= rom that point.=20 Seven years later I was exposed to strong pesticides when I was doing som= e grunt work during our home construction. I couldn=92t smell how bad the= fumes were from the termite spray so I merrily went along installing foo= ter drains. My wife came along and asked how I could breathe. I couldn=92= t smell a thing. Now what does this have to do with the price of eggs in Moscow? Who knows= ! One can rationalize that since PD affects dopamine which is a neurotran= smitter for our muscle position/contraction sensing system that another s= ensing system (smell) could also be affected. What is the neuro transmitt= er(s) for our olfactory system and where are they produced? Beats me. Ser= otonin (spelling?) is also supposedly deficient in the PD brain, but wha= t does it have to do with anything?=20 Enough of this, I=92m getting a headache. When I went in for my diagnosti= c MRI last year, I discovered I was claustrophobic. I lasted long enough = for them to lay me out on the slab, pack pillows next to my head in the c= age, cross my arms across my stomach, clamp on a set of headphones, cover= ing me with a blanket and tightly tucking it in on the sides. As the tech= nician rolled my fire plug body towards the flared opening, an image of a= torpedo being readied for launch popped into my head. Needless to say, i= n about five seconds, I said I=92m outta here. There was no way I would l= ast 45 minutes.=20 The technician was convinced that a few dabs of cucumber oil on my nose w= ould solve the problem. I had told her I couldn=92t smell. A few minutes = later, as if some miracle had occurred, she asked me if I could smell it = now. I told her no, so she dabbed more on my nose. I told her she could p= our the whole bottle up my noise and it would not help. I can=92t smell a= nd besides it would take more than cucumber oil to get me into that tube.= She finally agreed and set me up for another appointment. Prince Vallium and I did fine the next round. I even started to do a lit= tle rap in tune with the charge and scan noises of the machine. I had to = pop out once for a little more joy juice, but it is the only way to MRI. Keep motoring. Phil G. ([log in to unmask])