Smell and taste

The chemical sensations of food, smoke, and dangerous fumes play an important role in our daily life, nutrition and survival. Olfactory and gustatory dysfunction is associated with a broad range of common diseases and anomalies, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. In addition, taste and smell show physiologic deterioration as part of the natural aging process. Physicians treat thousands of patients every year for taste and smell dysfunction. For patients such as cooks, professional food and wine tasters, firemen, natural gas workers, chemists, and many industrial workers, livelihood or immediate safety is dependent upon a normal gustatory and olfactory function.1,2 Treating gustatory and olfactory dysfunction should be a priority for these patients. In this chapter, the anatomy, physiology, pathology, evaluation, and treatment of taste and smell complaints common to primary-care offices are presented.