Ear, Nose, And Throat Disorders Chapter 86. Because distinct flavors depend on aromas to stimulate the olfactory chemoreceptors, taste and smell are physiologically interdependent, and dysfunction of one often disturbs the other. Disorders of smell and taste are rarely incapacitating or life threatening, so they often do not receive close medical attention. However, the inability to detect certain odors, such as gas, may be dangerous, and several systemic and intracranial disorders should be eliminated before dismissing symptoms as harmless. 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.