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Dysosmia is a neurological disorder that affects the sense of smell, causing parosmia, anosmia, or phantosmia. Each sub-condition has its own characteristics and possible causes, and can be diagnosed through a smell test. There is no definitive treatment, but some cases may go away on their own or be treated with surgery or medication.
Dysosmia is a neurological disorder that causes an alteration in the sense of smell. The condition can manifest itself in a variety of ways: it can distort odors, which is a sub-condition called parosmia; do not initiate any olfactory response, called anosmia; or produce odors that aren’t there, called phantosmia. Because the oral cavity and the olfactory system are interrelated, some patients with dysosmia may also develop problems with their sense of taste.
The three sub-conditions that make up this type of olfactory dysfunction each have their own respective set of characteristics and possible causes. Individuals with parosmia cannot correctly identify odors, which is commonly presented as a neutral or pleasant scent that is interpreted as unpleasant. The condition can relate to specific odors or any odor, depending on the patient’s pathology. Parosmia can be caused by several conditions, including upper respiratory disorders, exposure to toxic chemicals, or various types of brain injuries.
Anosmia is distinguished by the inability to smell. Like parosmia, it can be specific to certain scents or it can encompass all scents. With anosmia, the olfactory bulb is not activated by the scent of stimuli and no odor is detected. Anosmia can be the result of any number of conditions, including stuffy nose, sinus infection, genetic predisposition, brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, or Parkinson’s disease. It can also result from overuse of certain types of nasal sprays, which damage neurons in the olfactory system.
Phantomsmia can be characterized by odors that do not come from a physical source. They are, in essence, hallucinations of the olfactory system and, in most cases, are extremely unpleasant. Neurological disorders in which the neural pathways of the brain become entangled are the most common causes of phantasms. Epilepsy, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and head trauma can lead to phantasms.
Each of the three subgroups of dysosmia can be diagnosed through a standard smell test administered by a specialist. In this screening, patients are given scented samples to smell and identify, and their responses are measured and recorded. The testing process, however, will not identify the cause of the disturbance.
There is no definitive treatment for dysosmia. In some cases, the condition goes away on its own. Experiments were conducted in the treatment of parosmia with the drug L-Dopa in the 1970s, but no conclusive results were achieved. In the case of phantosmia, a surgery known as olfactory epithelium has shown positive results in eradicating the condition.
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