The doctor told about the causes of parosmia

Irina Volgina, Associate Professor of the Department of Therapy at the Medical Faculty of the State University of Education, spoke on Monday, September 1, about parosmia, a distorted perception of odors.

According to the expert, parosmia can occur due to damage to the olfactory nerve ganglia in various respiratory diseases, nasal tumors or smoking. It can also be caused by combined lesions of the nervous system during chemotherapy, alcohol and drug addiction, cancer intoxication and coronavirus infection.

"Brain damage — there may be any factors leading to this condition — strokes, traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, brain tumors, and so on. In this situation, we are talking about damage to the olfactory centers, which continue to carry distorted information," the doctor said in a conversation with Lenta.Ru .

Volgina added that parosmia is often an early sign of many diseases, it helps the doctor to suspect them, diagnose them in time and start treatment, reports RT. Often, brain damage involving damage to the olfactory centers is irreversible — in such cases, restoration of a normal sense of smell is unlikely, she concluded.

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On August 6, Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, an expert at the Hemotest Laboratory and a neurologist, told Izvestia what disorders a craving for strange odors might be. 360.ru . According to the expert, unusual fragrance preferences — for example, the smell of gasoline or nail polish — can be quite harmless, but sometimes they talk about mental problems.

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