- Your sense of smell can save your life

People who have an impaired sense of smell appear to be at higher risk of preventable accidents, new research reports.
Investigators found that more than one third of people with a diminished sense of smell report having experienced at least one accident that could have prevented, such as burning pots and pans, eating spoiled food, and gas leaks.
In contrast, less than one fifth of people with accurate noses report having experienced similar events, according to the report.
People with olfactory impairments need to take some extra steps to protect themselves from everyday accidents heralded by smells, said study author. For instance, those with a diminished sense of smell need to make sure their houses contain enough working smoke detectors, check that their gas appliances are in good condition, and properly date and label prepared foods.
"Individuals with impaired olfaction must be more vigilant regarding their surroundings and activities of daily living," said Dr. Richard M. Costanzo of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. "It's not until you lose (your sense of smell) that you realize how important it really is," he added.
During the study, Costanzo and his colleagues tested 445 people on their sense of smell, and asked them how often they had experienced accidents that their noses could have prevented.
The researchers found that more than three quarters of people showed signs of some type of olfactory impairment, but only 30 percent had lost all sense of smell.
Almost half of the accidents reported by people with a loss of olfactory function were related to cooking, while eating spoiled food made up one quarter of events. Accidents that occurred because people couldn't detect a gas leak or smell a fire made up 23 and 7 percent, respectively, of the total.
Costanzo explained that people can lose some of their smelling abilities for many reasons, notably head trauma, sinus diseases, viruses and the aging process. "It has been estimated that as many as 14 million Americans of age greater than 55 years have some olfactory impairment," he said.
In the Archives of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery report, he and his colleagues write that the prevalence of olfactory impairment is expected to increase, given that more and more people are living longer lives.
However, historically, problems with this sense have often been "overlooked", they write, likely a combination of a lack of awareness about the scope of the problem, little public understanding of the importance of smell impairments, and the fact that only few treatments exist.