Congenital Anosmia
Anosmia is the condition of being without a sense of smell. Those with congenital anosmia are born without a sense of smell, while others lose the sense later in life. It is estimated that at least 1% of the population is anosmic, and that 10 million Americans suffer from other taste and smell disorders (Anosmia Foundation).
My cousin Sharon has congenital anosmia. She didn’t realize she couldn’t smell anything until she was in high school. Anosmics like Sharon have absolutely no sense of smell whatsoever. She cannot smell anything. She experiences the burning sensation that comes from exposure to smoke and noxious chemical fumes because, like us non-anosmics, her tissues become irritated (eyes, nose, mucous membranes), and that’s as close as she gets to being able to smell.
Here’s one of the most interesting aspects of congenital anosmia, from my good friend, Wikipedia:
“Often people who have congenital anosmia report that they pretended to be able to smell as children because they thought that smelling was something that ‘big people’ could do, or did not understand the concept of smelling but did not want to appear different from others. When children get older, they often realize and report to their parents that they do not actually possess a sense of smell, much to the surprise of their parents.”
I’m going to ask Sharon to come on as a guest blogger, so that she can share her experience.
One of the first questions that comes up, when discussing anosmia, is taste. For those who lose their sense of smell later in life, food does seem to lose its taste. However, people who are born anosmics think that they can taste just as well as anyone else! Although taste has a great deal to do with smell, it’s also very much about perception (an upcoming blog topic).
I’ll leave you with a link to an anosmia blog - Anosmia and Smell Disorders and the Congenital Anosmia Forums, where you can read about the experiences of anosmics.
Many people trivialize the disorder. But for those who become anosmics later in life, the loss of smell, taste, and the associated memories often leads to depression.
Congenital anosmia offers a unique point of view, and I do hope Sharon is able to share her story with us.
I am not an anosmic, but I feel like we should end with a picture, so here’s my sinuses:
anosmia, sense of smell, congenital anosmia
ps - I’ll get more in-depth re the causes of anosmia in a later post.
June 4th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
A friend of mine that I grew up with had no sense of smell. It blew my mind how many times I used the smell of something to describe something. Just got the blank look in return.