Interesting article, Judith... Thanks for sharing it with us. In this same vein, I had a bizarre experience this past week involving my barely-there sense of smell. With all the brouhaha about the El Nino that's supposed to cause us Southern Californians to be hit with tremendous rain and wind storms, high tides, etc, this winter, along with the possibility of power outages, I bought several extra flashlights to augment the 2 I already have. The new ones were rubber coated just as the 2 old ones are. Oddly, when I took the new flashlights outta their see-thru plastic containers, THE MOST AWFUL SMELL ASAILED ME!!! The new flashlights, unlike the odorless old ones, smelled like unwashed old sneakers that had been in 100 marathons and had been run thru a healthy dose of ...... errrrr..... dog poop! <grin> I couldn't BELIEVE the stench, and asked my roomie if he could smell it, or was I imagining it? He inhaled, and looked like he was gonna pass out!!! <giggle> Well.... needless to say, I've returned the flashlights and got some made of metal. It WAS nice to know I could at least smell SOMETHING - but I'd have rather it had been the smell of CHOCOLATE! <LOL> Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange on behalf of Judith Richards Sent: Thursday, October 23, 1997 8:58 PM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Loss of Smell, Taste Affect Health Wednesday October 22 Loss of Smell, Taste Affect Health NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Loss of sense of taste and smell can lead to nutritional and immune problems in older people and put them at risk for food poisoning, according to a report in The Journal of the American Medical Association this week. A review of the scientific literature shows that loss of these senses is common in the elderly. Deficits in these senses can be caused by illness, medications, and by the process of aging itself. "Many people lose their sense of smell and taste, and all people lose it to some degree as they age," says the review's author Dr. Susan S. Schiffman, professor of medical psychology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "With taste, the loss is modest with just normal aging, but medications and diseases can play a tremendous role," Schiffman says. She notes, for example, that medications such as psychotropic drugs interrupt connections between nerve cells, to affect the taste and smell centers in the brain. The researcher also notes that environmental exposure to chemicals such as insecticides and pesticides can damage the body's smell receptors and can interfere with the sense of taste. "Deficits in taste and smell can not only reduce pleasure and comfort from food, but they can alter the types and amounts of food eaten and can actually reduce the levels of key immune system cells, like T-cells and B-cells," Schiffman says. Schiffman says her own research demonstrated that taste and smell also put the elderly at risk for noxious chemicals and poisonings "since chemosensory cues provide warning signals about chemical safety." Deficits in chemosensory cues have other dangers, the researcher notes. A diminished ability to taste sweet foods can put elderly people with diabetes at risk for accidentally eating sugar, thus affecting the control of their diabetes. Loss of salt perception can cause people with high blood pressure to inadvertently consume too much salt. The psychologist's research in elderly nursing home patients also suggests that flavors and odors may stimulate nerve pathways leading to the brain's limbic system, which regulates such diverse functions as mood, productivity, and immunity. "It is important as you age to make sure that your food tastes and smells good to you," the researcher says. "Odor and taste may activate, or stimulate the immune system." "There are connections between the smell centers in the brain and the immune system," Schiffman adds. "We found that T-cell and B-cell levels were increased when patients ate flavor-enhanced food. And we believe, from further studies, that the reason for that is stimulation of the limbic system of the brain improves the immune system." Schiffman also notes that food could help older people who have dryness of the mouth from taking certain medications that can block salivation. "When you have more flavored foods, you get more salivation, less complaints of dry mouth, and more bathing of the oral passages with immunoglobulins (antibodies)," she points out. In terms of intervention, the researcher suggests that elderly patients who complain of sensory loss undergo a four-step evaluation process including a complete medical history, physical examination, psychophysical testing for sensory deficits, and, possibly, diagnostic medical imaging. Schiffman says once the evaluation is complete, the doctor may suggest adding simulated flavors to foods -- concentrated essences which, unlike spices, do not irritate the stomach. "Enhancing food flavors and understanding triggers for taste and smell can help older patients adjust to the physiologic changes that occur with age and help maintain appetite and food enjoyment," the researcher states. SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association (1997;278(16):1357-1362)