Murugappan Ramanathan Jr., a rhinologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, and his team proposed a link between environmental conditions and loss of smell. Data from 2690 patients admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital over a four-year period showed that approximately 20 percent of patients had anosmia. Most of these patients were also non-smokers. It is believed that smoking can reduce the ability to smell. But these people lived in those areas where pollution is found more. That is, it is said that the level of air is also responsible for anosmia.
More and more people are losing their sense of smell
In addition, a recent study in Brescia, northern Italy, found that the noses of teenagers and young adults became less sensitive to the smell of nitrogen dioxide. Especially due to exposure to the smoke coming out of the vehicles, his ability to smell became weak.
How does damage happen?
How is the ability to smell reduced?
According to Ramanathan, there are two ways to lose the ability to smell, first, some of these pollution particles are going through the olfactory bulb to our brain, causing inflammation there. Apart from this, the second possibility is that the particles of pollution directly affect the nerves without reaching the brain, which gradually reduces the ability to smell.
What are the disadvantages of having less ability to smell?
Experts say that there is a deep connection between the olfactory sense and diseases. It has been revealed in many studies that lack of smell can increase depression and anxiety. Apart from this, problems like obesity and food poisoning can also occur.