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CF and loss of smell
In response to a recent topic that asked about our favorite summertime scents, all of the people who commented mentioned their trouble smelling. Personally, I have no sense of smell. It’s been this way for at least a decade, but even before that, my sense of smell was never very strong.
I had always assumed that loss of smell was pretty common in CF based on anecdotal evidence, but this article from cystic-fibrosis.com shares some of the science.
“In 2019, researchers conducted a study on cystic fibrosis and sense of smell using controls and people living with CF. They measured sinus health and smell with nasal endoscopy, “Sniffin’ sticks”, and corresponding questionnaires.2 One-hundred percent of CF participants were found to have chronic rhinosinusitis, inflammation of the sinuses.2,3
The researchers reported 81.60% of people interviewed with CF had hyposmia, or decreased sense of smell. In addition, 12.68% were anosmia, or no sense of smell. In comparison to controls with 18% hyposmia while none with anosmia.2 The results between controls and CF participants makes sense of smell a more significant issue in the cystic fibrosis community and could affect quality of life.”
(I highly suggest reading the whole article which includes references to these studies.)
Do you have loss of smell? Has it affected your sense of taste as well? If so, does this affect your daily life or overall wellbeing negatively?
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2 Replies
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Same here, no sense of smell since ’96/’97 for me as well!
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No ability to smell since 4 yrs ago. I have my husband season salt and pepper being careful on salt as I have basic taste.. sweet salt hot sour bitter. It’s cooking by memory for me. I must always tell restaurants to use minimal salt on steaks or that becomes an overwhelming distasteful event for me.
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