abnormalities of taste and smell

Q: 32 years old patient admitted to ICU with COVID infection complained of loss of taste and smell. What are the five abnormalities of taste and four abnormalities of smell?

Answer: The medical terminologies for normal taste and smell functions are normogeusia and normosmia, respectively.

There are five dysfunctions of taste:

1. Hypogeusia – Diminished taste function to one or more specific tastants

2. Ageusia – Absent taste function

3. Dysgeusia – Altered (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, or metallic) perception of taste in response to a tastant stimulus

4. Aliageusia – Taste disturbance in which a typically pleasant-tasting food or drink tastes unpleasant

5. Phantogeusia – Unpleasant taste due to a gustatory hallucination (in the absence of any stimulus)

There are four dysfunctions of smell (olfaction)

1. Hyposmia – Diminished smell function (also sometimes referred to as microsmia)

2. Anosmia – Absent smell function

3. Parosmia – Abhorrent odor perception. This is described in two categories. A) with an odorant stimulus (troposmia or smell distortion), or B) without an odorant stimulus (phantosmia)

4. Dysosmia – A general term describing distortion of smell sensations

#neurology

Reference:

Denis Lafreniere - Taste and olfactory disorders in adults: Evaluation and management - © 2023 UpToDate - Link: https://www.uptodate.com/contents/taste-and-olfactory-disorders-in-adults-evaluation-and-management (last accessed January 20, 2023)