A Neurobiological Examination of Environmental, Subjective, Peripheral and Central Taste Sensation Processing Variances Associated with Taste Alterations: A Case Study Method

This study examines a common phenomenon that is greatly ignored by the clinical community for numerous reasons. Many people for a multitude of reasons experience taste alterations. The supertaster phenomenon is an alteration of taste that requires more investigation. In this study, a proband was examined for subjective reports of a taste alteration to determine its nature through a medical history examination and interview as well as any recollections of the taste disorder in her life. Through this examination, it was found that medical history examination and interview of the proband that many members of her nuclear family showed traits of the same taste disorder or in the case of one family member being a suspect for the taste alteration and one member not showing any signs because of genetic diversity as a half-sibling. Taste disorders are heritable, have multiple health and mental health consequences, influence life choices including mate choice, avoidance behaviors, social choices, alcohol use/abuse, smoking, food choices, and more. More awareness is needed in the research and clinical community into taste alterations as well as calls for future research from neuroscience, biomedical science, life science, and allied science community to investigate taste alterations.

Incidence and prognosis of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain infection in China:A national multicenter survey of 35,566 individuals

Objective:This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the epidemiology of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to COVID-19 in China.Methods:This study was conducted by 45 tertiary Grade-A hospitals in China.Online and offline questionnaire data were obtained from patients infected with COVID-19 between December 28,2022,and February 21,2023.The collected information included basic demographics,medical history,smoking and drinking history,vaccination history,changes in olfactory and gustatory functions before and after infection,and other postinfection symptoms,as well as the duration and improvement status of olfactory and gustatory disorders.Results:Complete questionnaires were obtained from 35,566 subjects.The overall incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunction was 67.75%.Being female or being a cigarette smoker increased the likelihood of developing olfactory and taste dysfunction.Having received four doses of the vaccine or having good oral health or being a alcohol drinker decreased the risk of such dysfunction.Before infection,the average olfactory and taste VAS scores were 8.41 and 8.51,respectively;after infection,they decreased to 3.69 and 4.29 and recovered to 5.83 and 6.55 by the time of the survey.The median duration of dysosmia and dysgeusia was 15 and 12 days,respectively,with 0.5%of patients having symptoms lasting for more than 28 days.The overall self-reported improvement rate was 59.16%.Recovery was higher in males,never smokers,those who received two or three vaccine doses,and those that had never experienced dental health issues,or chronic accompanying symptoms.Conclusions:The incidence of dysosmia and dysgeusia following infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus is high in China.Incidence and prognosis are influenced by several factors,including sex,SARS-CoV-2 vaccination,history of head-facial trauma,nasal and oral health status,smoking and drinking history,and the persistence of accompanying symptoms.