I am a lay person and I cannot provide detail on study design. However, I am aware that there are millions of individuals world-wide who suffer from loss of smell (anosmia) and who feel socially isolated and fearful of dangers that the olfactory system helps to warn against. In addition, many people who are anosmic do not enjoy eating and are therefore not necessarily getting a nutritionally balanced diet. This could... more »

Exome sequencing of self-identified viral anosmics vs congenital anosmics vs healthy match controls to identify candidate genes related to susceptability

Anosmia, the loss of smell, affects approximately 5% of the population and can blight the lives of sufferers. The consequences to well being of those with this condition can be severe and include depression, anxiety, aggression, feelings of isolation as well as weight gain/weight loss. Within this group are people with parosmia, a condition where odors are so distorted that food becomes a nauseating ordeal. We need more... more »

From www.monell.org:

Monell’s initial targeted anosmia research project takes advantage of 1) the unique ability of olfactory receptor cells to regenerate from specialized stem cells across a person’s lifetime, and 2) Monell’s pioneering development of biopsy techniques that enable us to harvest and study living human olfactory tissue.

research and restore smelling loss

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Not only does complete loss of smell and taste ("anosmia") affect quality of life , but this condition also creates safety concerns - unable to smell during food prep, unable to detect spoiled food, unable to detect harmful fumes and the list goes on.

The goals of anosmia research should be to help those who have suddenly lost their sense of smell to regain it. Scientists need to know more about olfactory nerves, their connections, their regeneration, how nerves can be rerouted, etc.

Goal: Create more awareness of anosmia and do research on cures.Preliminary research shows more than 2 million Americans suffer from permanent loss of smell after a bad cold or head injury. Let’s determine how many are affected and research possible cures by gathering data of those currently affected and those anosmiacs who regained part or all of their sense of smell.

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Analyze uses of stem cell regeneration. Test stem cell implants to regenerate olafactory nerves and reverse loss of smell.

Connection between head injury and loss of smell is well known. But are there levels of association between the two? For instance, could there be limited loss. Or is loss permanent and total?