My sense of smell — my wealth

Smell can be life-saving in some critical situations

The scent of burning, gas, or spoiled food is what can alert to a fire, a hazardous situation, or protect from severe food poisoning.

Smell gives us the ability to enjoy food

And this is not only about producing a mouthful of saliva in response to the smell of apple pie, but also about directly enjoying its taste. Information about food is transmitted in two ways: the first — from olfactory receptors located in the nostrils, and the second — from receptors located in the nasopharynx.

Thus, during chewing and swallowing these receptors are activated and complement the gustatory information. Therefore any change in the perception of smells affects the perception of taste.

Philosophically speaking, whether this is good or bad is debatable, because people with impaired or absent smell, on the other hand, are not prone to overeating. Food generally isn’t much of a pleasure for them... But hold on, take care of your olfactory bulbs, as with other earthly pleasures there are also difficulties...

Smell plays an important role in sexual life

Research shows that the acuity of smell directly correlates with sexual satisfaction. Women with a sharper sense of smell more often reach orgasm. And in men, diminished smell correlates with a higher risk of erectile dysfunction.

It is also believed that the sense of smell helps, in ways not yet fully known, to choose a partner who is genetically most compatible with us and in good health.

And though we are unlikely to, like some animals, sniff out a mating candidate from many kilometers away, we sometimes tend to try to fool our partner’s sense of smell by offering them diors, armannis, or some expensive aphrodisiacs with extract of rodent glands.

Our subjective point of view: this only confuses our senses and adds ambiguity to already sometimes overly complex human relationships.

Smell — an important tool for self-assessment and social interaction

In simple terms — we "don’t forget to wash". Surely at least once in life someone faced a situation where a person stinks mercilessly and thought, "how can this be possible." One can only feel sorry, because, most likely, the person simply has problems with smelling and ... doesn’t even suspect it! And for them it may be a social disaster, because hardly anyone from a not-so-close circle will tell them.

And it is not a fact that such people cannot become us, or that we ourselves are not such...

Why do smell problems arise?

Trauma and anatomical reasons.

Loss of smell can occur after head injury, as happened, for example, with twice Olympic champion James Cracknell, who was hit by a truck while cycling.

Moment of social advertising: if it weren’t for the helmet that split in two, no one would know about his loss of smell.

In reality, loss of smell due to injuries is not so rare.

Other possible anatomical changes, which can cause loss or deterioration of smell — polyps, tumors, signs of other diseases — early manifestations of neurodegenerative disorders, for example, in Parkinson’s or Alzheimer's disease.

Inflammatory process in the upper respiratory tract

We occasionally experience how hard it is without smell — when the nose is blocked, rhinitis or sinusitis occurs. When this phenomenon repeats often, a chronic inflammatory process damages olfactory cells and their receptors and can cause deterioration or loss of smell. Researchers note that the rate of recovery from such losses is 30-60%.

Smoking

People who smoke have a significantly higher risk of smell loss or impairment, as well as the aforementioned consequences. The good news — if you quit smoking, smell can recover over time, provided its loss or impairment wasn’t linked to other factors.

In addition to smoking, other possible causes of smell deterioration include possible exposure to polluted and toxic substances (dust, gas, vapors of volatile compounds). Also temporary deterioration of smell can be caused by overuse of various strongly scented products — household chemicals, perfumes, consumption of foods with many flavor enhancers, car air fresheners, laundry detergents, air fresheners, etc.

How to preserve smell?

First, you need to somehow assess the state of things.

Worth noting:

• if you have not been able to recall a situation for a long time when you were troubled by an unpleasant smell;
• if you are cooking, but it doesn’t smell to you;
• if while gathering things for the washing machine you cannot determine by smell whether a thing needs washing;
• if you have not long fainted from the smell of rain;
• if you cannot find by smell broccoli in a shopping mall :)

By the way, about perfumes — it’s not bad to ask someone close to you whether your perfume is not too harshly "loud." When we use the same scent for a long time, we adapt to it and perceive it somewhat less. And even if colleagues faintly cough when you enter a room, they are unlikely to tell you outright.

Secondly, pay attention to your health, namely — treating chronic inflammatory processes of the upper respiratory tract.

Thirdly, quit smoking — your lungs, your family, and random people in the supermarket queue will thank you;

Also try not to overuse products with overly strong scents — this will preserve your sensitivity and sensuality :)

Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash