Does Your Nose Work Well? If Not - You Better Do Something About It

One of the symptoms people experienced with Covid was loss of a sense of smell. Many people recovered from it.

Some did not.

That may be a problem. There’s a lot of scientific research showing that loss of sense of smell (or olfaction as the medical people like to say to sound superior) may be linked to cognitive decline.

Other senses have that issue as well. Poor eyesight and poor hearing can also increase your risk for dementia. Some people also lose their taste buds. And that has been linked to diseases of the brain such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Today I want to focus on the sense of smell.

There is some research showing loss of smell precedes cognitive decline in many adults. The loss of smell also relates to loss of gray matter in the brain. That gray matter loss can occur particularly in the hippocampus - the part of the brain that plays roles in memory, learning and spatial navigation.

People with Alzheimer’s have hippocampi that are dramatically smaller.

It sounds like they are already seeing this in people who permanently lost their sense of smell as a result of catching Covid.

Even chronic sinus problems are associated with cognitive decline.

The olfactory system is the only sense we have that is linked directly to the limbic system. The limbic system is critical for memory and emotion.

So what can be done? For eye problems we can use glasses or contacts. Hearing aids will aid with the ears. Not sure on the taste bud front.

Now it looks like we can improve our sense of smell by exposing our noses to various fragrances.

A new study exposed 20 people to essential oil scents daily and 23 people to a ‘sham’ set of scents that really didn’t have any aroma as a control group.

Each person had a diffuser to use in their home for six months that gave off a scent for 2 hours each night. The researchers also conducted a neuropsychological assessment at the start of the study and after 6 months.

The seven essential oils the participants in the experimental group used included:

• Rose

• Orange

• Eucalyptus

• Lemon

• Peppermint

• Rosemary

• Lavender

The study had the participants use one scent per night and changed it the next night. They rotated through all 7 scents each week over a 6-month period.

The results were pretty striking. The study authors saw a 226% increase in cognitive ability of the people smelling the oils vs the ones who were in the control group.

None of the participants during the study had dementia, but there are studies using people with dementia. One study exposed participants who had moderate dementia to 40 different scents twice a day for 15 days. They saw highly significant improvements to memory, depression and language compared to the control group.

I’m going to try setting up some diffusers in the rooms of some of my residents to see how this might work with dementia. I will let you know what I find out.