Sniffing Out An Abrupt COVID-19 Symptom

A buttery, rosemary-infused turkey cooks in the oven. Fresh cinnamon rolls drip with vanilla icing. Tart, sparkling cider fizzes in a glass. Every holiday season, most people can enjoy these treats thanks to an intricately wired central nervous system which controls the ability to smell and taste along with other senses.

But that is not the case for everyone. Even before the pandemic, Brad Goldstein, MD, PhD, associate professor at Duke in the Departments of Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences and Neurobiology, treated patients regularly who suffer from an altered sense of smell or taste for one reason or another, whether it be sinusitis, traumatic head injury, or post-viral congestion. In fact, nearly twenty percent of people over age 40 experience varying ranges of smell and taste dysfunction.