A Warning to Millions About Long-Term COVID Loss of Taste and Smell

More than a million Great Britains may already suffer long-term problems, with 45 million virus cases recorded up to April 2022.

A study in the British Medical Journal estimates 5.6% of patients may never get their sense of smell back, while 4.4% lose their taste. It is common to lose the sense while sick with COVID, but many people suffer for weeks, months, or even years afterwards.

Professor Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo, from the University of Trieste in Italy, who was not part of the study, but said, “People only realize the importance of taste and smell when it is lost.

“Loss of smell and taste affects quality of life by depriving people of everyday pleasures and social bonds. Daily activities such as smelling coffee and sensing flavor of food can become disgusting and emotionally distressing.”

“People can also experience anorexia, food aversions, malnutrition, anxiety, and depression.”

Scientists at the National University of Singapore checked data from 3,699 patients who lost their taste or smell after catching COVID to see how many recovered. Three quarters got their senses back within a month, but the study said, “a major group might develop long-lasting dysfunction.”

Women are more likely to suffer permanent damage, than men, it added.

Fortunately, Louisiana Pain Specialists is offering a possible cure for loss of taste and smell due to long COVID, called a stellate ganglion block.

You can read more about stellate ganglion block for long COVID here: https://www.louisianapain.com/contents/long-covid

And be sure to check out our news story on WDSU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0MCamDaRxc