Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – January 6, 2021 – Health
So that after the transferred coronavirus the sense of smell is restored faster, it is worth for people who smoke to stop smoking so as not to irritate the mucous membranes of the oral cavity and nose.
According to preliminary data, the majority (up to 80%) of patients with coronavirus disease suffer from the ability to perceive odors to one degree or another. But in people of different sex, age and origin, this symptom is observed with different frequencies.
For example, we know that Europeans lose their sense of smell more often than residents of Asia: 54.8% of those infected in Europe complained about the lack of smell, and only 17.7% of those in Asia. In addition, the younger a person was, the more likely they were to lose their sense of smell and taste – and this happened to women more often than to men.
Patients who are seriously ill lose their sense of smell less often than people who are fortunate enough to be ill in a mild form. Perhaps the fact is that in young people without chronic diseases, most of the coronaviruses remain in the nasopharynx and do not “fall” into the lungs. This leads to the loss of the ability to distinguish between odors, but protects against viral pneumonia.
How long does it take for the sense of smell to return? According to generalized data from all over the world, in most cases, the ability to smell smells gradually returns within a few weeks after infection with a coronavirus infection. But in reality, the sense of smell can be restored:
a week later – in 67.8% of participants in a large European study, their sense of smell returned within 8 days after recovery;
after a few months – for example, in one small Italian study in 7.2% of patients, the sense of smell did not return even two months after the illness;
perhaps in a few years. But so far we do not have such data – after all, the COVID-19 pandemic began just a year ago. Scientists have yet to process information about patients to whom the sense of smell will never return.
Some doctors offer people who have lost their sense of smell as training to smell substances with bright aromas (for example, perfume). However, we don’t know if this helps restore the sense of smell faster, and no research group has yet tested how beneficial it is. Other experts advise regularly moisturizing the nasal mucosa with drops and taking B vitamins, because one of the biological tasks of these substances is to restore the nervous tissue. But the effectiveness of these methods in treating the consequences of COVID-19 has not yet been tested.
It seems the smartest thing to do in this situation is to just wait for the smell to return and lead a healthy lifestyle. For those who smoked, loss of smell is a worthy reason to quit: among other things, smoking slows down the recovery of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth, doctors say.