The neurologist spoke about parageusia as a marker of brain tumors and diabetes

Parageusia is a taste disorder that can be a symptom of serious diseases such as brain tumors and diabetes mellitus. Galina Chudinskaya, a neurologist at Medicine JSC (Academician Roitberg Clinic), told Izvestia about this on August 20.

"A change in taste sensations — parageusia (or dysgeusia) — is a pathological perception of taste, including distortion, weakening or false sense of taste (for example, the taste of metal, bitterness, rot). Although this disorder is often underestimated in clinical practice, it can be an important diagnostic marker of serious systemic or neurological diseases, including brain tumors and diabetes mellitus," the specialist said.

Chudinskaya explained that changes in taste sensations can be associated with disorders at any level of the taste system, from peripheral receptors to the central structures of the brain. Brain tumors and diabetes are important, which may be the main causes of parageusia.

In brain tumors, damage to the structures responsible for taste perception can lead to a distortion of taste sensations. For example, tumors in the insular lobe or temporal lobe can cause parageusia, affecting the mechanisms of perception through the central taste pathways. The main causes may be gliomas, meningiomas, and metastatic tumors, especially in those areas of the brain responsible for taste perception.

In diabetes mellitus, the doctor added, parageusia is associated with neuropathic changes. Elevated blood glucose levels can cause microangiopathy of the vessels feeding the taste buds, as well as nerve degeneration, which disrupts the transmission of impulses along the taste pathways. This condition is often accompanied by a decrease in sensitivity.

In addition, parageusia is often combined with other neurological disorders such as epileptic seizures, cognitive disorders, headaches, and visual disturbances. Diagnosis requires a comprehensive approach, including MRI, neuroimaging and electroencephalography, as well as a detailed examination of the patient, taking into account the anamnesis and symptoms.

Earlier, on July 9, Olga Lavrinovich, oncogynecologist and reproductologist, medical consultant to the Khabensky Foundation, spoke about the most common types of cancer during pregnancy. The most common cancers among pregnant women include breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers.

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