Study suggests lost of smell can last upto 4 weeks or months for recovered patients

Several coronavirus patients that recovered never retrieved their sense of smell, one of the symptoms of the novel coronavirus, according to the study, which was published in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. Anosmia, the loss of smell, occurred in more than half of the COVID-19 patients as a cardinal symptom, however, the smell "dysfunction" did not see recovery in 4 weeks or even lasted months and in some cases, patients reported a long-term inability to smell. 

An Italian-led team published the study after they accumulated data from at least 187 patients who were treated for COVID-19 in March at Treviso Regional Hospital in Italy at the peak of its outbreak. Researchers found that 113 of the patients, about two-thirds, reported anosmia and dysgeusia that lasted for months. While 49 per cent of patients fully regained their sense of smell or taste, approximately half noted that they had yet to fully recover their lost senses of smell. 

Although altered sense of smell showed an improvement in most cases during the course of the disease, these symptoms were still the most frequently reported by patients with COVID-19 4 weeks after testing, the researchers wrote. 

An assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said, first, there were anecdotal reports of COVID-19 patients who had lost their ability to smell or taste. However, he added, studies started to confirm there was a lot of truth to it. Citing a study of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 that used objective tests, Rowan said, nearly all patients, 98 per cent, showed some loss of smell. But some more severe than the others. President of anosmie.org, a French group designed to help sufferers, was quoted saying in a report that anosmia cut people off from nearly all smells of life, it was a torture for most. 

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Patients experience 'cleft syndrome'

Maillard pointed out, that the recovered patients not just reported a loss of olfactory skills but also due to anosmia they were unable to smell smoke from a fire, gas from a leak, or a poorly washed dustbin, according to a study. A 36-year-old attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana who had recovered from the coronavirus had a persistent symptom of anosmia since March 30. Coronavirus survivor, Meek, couldn’t tell even after three months later tastes like salty and sweet. In a recent study in a journal The Conversation, Dr. Jane Parker, an associate professor of flavour chemistry at the University of Reading and Dr. Simon Gane, a rhinologist at the University of London said the coronavirus patients experience “cleft syndrome” which is swollen tissues and mucus block of the olfactory cleft that obstructed the sense of smell in patients. 

Further, Milliard noted that around 80 percent of COVID-19 patients recovered spontaneously in less than a month and often even faster, in eight to 10 days. However, the disease destroyed some of the patients’ olfactory neurons, the ones that detect smells, for the long term. But the good news was that these neurons were able to regenerate. In a study, "CovidORL", conducted at two Paris hospitals to investigate the phenomenon, testing how well different nose washes can cure anosmia, experts found “hope”. A cortisone-based treatment has proved effective in treating post-cold instances of anosmia, while another method of olfactory re-education provided effectiveness. 

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(All Images Credit: JAMA Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Study)