Professor Carl Philpott is featured on Inside Health on BBC Radio 4 discussing smell and taste loss/changes from Covid-19 and its new variants. To listen to this program, please click the link provided – http://bbc.in/36Z5tAw

Do you live in Scotland? Have you been affected by smell/taste disorders? Would you like to connect with other people who have had similar experiences?

How Important is a Sense of Smell?

Joshna Maharaj is a chef who has anosmia – read her story here

Our SmellTaste Scotland members are an active group, getting together for meals and drinks regularly. This time, they met at Cafe Andaluz in Glasgow. Organiser Julie explains:

We were a group of 7 – given the Fringe is on and the Edinburgh Festivals, folks sent apologies – otherwise we would have been bigger. We had a great time, and the tapas were excellent, together with the cocktails, wine and dessert wine!

Those of us with smell and taste disorders gained a lot from the food – differing textures and flavours mixed with small dishes meant a great experience.  A real treat.

We were very controlled, however! We really enjoyed the meal and the opportunity to spend time with other members. Unfortunately, we had such a good time that we forgot to take a photograph.  Next time!

If you’d like to join the SmellTaste Scotland members for a future get-together, please drop Julie an email so she can include you in the plans: Scotland@fifthsense.org.uk

SmellTaste spoke to Dr. Justice, who’ll be speaking at next month’s event in Florida. Here, he talks about what he’ll be covering in his lecture and what he thinks the medical profession can do for patients.

Why are smell and taste so important to you?

Smell and taste are important to me on a personal level because these senses enhance how I interact with the world. On a professional level, they’re important because I can hopefully improve the quality of life of a patient affected by these disorders, but also keep them safe, whether it be recommending strategies to label perishable foods, install smoke detectors, or find a cancer before it is too late.

 Can you give us a sneak preview of what you’ll be covering in your talk?

I am going to cover how we as medical professionals approach patients with smell and taste disorders, what information we need to know from the patient, what the patient can expect to experience during the evaluation, and what are the available treatments that we can currently offer.

How do you think the medical profession can do more to help people affected by smell and taste disorders?

In my opinion, the medical profession can do a great deal more than we currently do to help patients with smell and taste disorders.

First, we need to strive for empathy, as we are finally understanding the negative impact that smell and taste disorders have on patients’ quality of life. We need to impart to the patient that we understand their frustration and that we will do our best to help them.

Second, we need to be better listeners, as historically we have not been able to do much for patients with smell and taste disorders. Our first inclination is to just order tests, labs, and radiographic scans without taking the time to hear what the patient actually has to say. Furthermore, we have to be good listeners as most of the time the key to the diagnosis is within the patient’s story/history.

Finally, we need to strive for honesty with our patients. We need to be upfront with them about the potential diagnoses, whether it is something scary like cancer or a neurodegenerative disorder, or if we just don’t know what caused the disorder.

We also need to be straightforward about the available treatments; whether we think we can help or if we have investigated as much as we can and we can’t find an answer, we need to be honest that there may be no hope for improvement. In these cases, we must still strive to support our patients and offer them strategies to keep them safe and find other resources​.

SmellTaste2017 represents an opportunity for people affected by smell and taste disorders to come together with clinicians, scientists and, of course, each other. What are you most looking forward to at SmellTaste2017?

I am most looking forward to the camaraderie of the meeting. The most frustrating thing for me about smell and taste disorders is that many times we can’t improve the problem for the patient, but sometimes our support and the support of patients with similar experiences can be the difference between suffering in silence and success and happiness.

SmellTaste’s Mark Tavender with an update on the Experience’s section of the website, and the Personal Accounts of Anosmia Study being run by Mr Philpott’s Smell and Taste Clinic

As you know, I am currently collating SmellTaste members’ experiences of anosmia for use on the ‘Experiences’ part of our website and on a ‘Members’ Experiences’ display at future public events at which we may have a presence. Thanks to all of you who have contributed so far, it is much appreciated. If you have not yet sent your personal experience and still wish to, please let me know at info@fifthsense.org.uk and I will send you a consent form.

In addition, you may wish your personal account to be used as part of the Personal Accounts of Anosmia Study (PAAS) being run by Mr Carl Philpott who runs the Smell and Taste Clinic at James Paget Hospitals. This is a very good opportunity to add your voice to our and Mr Philpott’s ongoing efforts to draw the NHS’ attention to the issues faced by smell and taste disorder sufferers. More details of the study can be found via this link

https://www.uea.ac.uk/medicine/departments/medicine/anosmia-study

This is separate from our ‘Experiences’ section and requires its own consent form to be sent which you can download from the UEA website. It must be printed off, persnally signed and then posted to the following address;

When writing your account here are some things you may wish to think about:

– how anosmia has affected your day to day life; relationships; enjoyment of pleasurable activities such as cooking and eating

– any experiences with the medical profession in terms of trying to gain diagnosis and treatment

– attitude of friends/family/partners to your condition

– whether it has led to other problems such as depression or anxiety