Some cases, accompanied by a disagreeable taste, result from poor dental hygiene. Uncinate epilepsy can produce brief, vivid, unpleasant olfactory hallucinations. In all instances, the gustatory receptors are diffusely involved. Anosmia requires thorough evaluation for intranasal and intracranial diseases. Head trauma is a major cause of anosmia in young adults.
Viral infections are a major cause in older adults.
If unilateral, anosmia is often unrecognized. Treatment of allergic or bacterial rhinitis and sinusitis or removal of nasal polyps and benign neoplasms may result in recovery of the sense of smell. Conditions causing destruction of the olfactory neuroepithelium or its central pathways do not lend themselves to effective treatment, although spontaneous recovery may follow regeneration of these tissues. All rights reserved.