A follow-up on quantitative and qualitative olfactory dysfunction and other symptoms in patients recovering from COVID-19 smell loss.

BACKGROUND: Sudden smell loss is a specific early symptom of COVID-19, which, prior to the emergence of Omicron, had estimated prevalence of ~40% to 75%. Chemosensory impairments affect physical and mental health, and dietary behavior. Thus, it is critical to understand the rate and time course of smell recovery. The aim of this cohort study was to characterize smell function and recovery up to 11 months post COVID-19 infection. METHODS: This longitudinal survey of individuals suffering COVID-19-related smell loss assessed disease symptoms and gustatory and olfactory function. Participants (n=12,313) who completed an initial survey (S1) about respiratory symptoms, chemosensory function and COVID-19 diagnosis between April and September 2020, were invited to complete a follow-up survey (S2). Between September 2020 and February 2021, 27.5% participants responded (n=3,386), with 1,468 being diagnosed with COVID-19 and suffering co-occurring smell and taste loss at the beginning of their illness. RESULTS: At follow-up (median time since COVID-19 onset ~200 days), ~60% of women and ~48% of men reported less than 80% of their pre-illness smell ability. Taste typically recovered faster than smell, and taste loss rarely persisted if smell recovered. Prevalence of parosmia and phantosmia was ~10% of participants in S1 and increased substantially in S2: ~47% for parosmia and ~25% for phantosmia. Persistent smell impairment was associated with more symptoms overall, suggesting it may be a key marker of long-COVID illness. The ability to smell during COVID-19 was rated slightly lower by those who did not eventually recover their pre-illness ability to smell at S2. CONCLUSIONS: While smell ability improves for many individuals who lost it during acute COVID-19, the prevalence of parosmia and phantosmia increases substantially over time. Olfactory dysfunction is associated with broader persistent symptoms of COVID-19, and may last for many months following acute COVID-19. Taste loss in the absence of smell loss is rare. Persistent qualitative smell symptoms are emerging as common long-term sequelae; more research into treatment options is strongly warranted given that even conservative estimates suggest millions of individuals may experience parosmia following COVID-19. Healthcare providers worldwide need to be prepared to treat post COVID-19 secondary effects on physical and mental health.

"U-Sniff" - the international odor identification test for children: an extension of its normative database and study of global reliability.

BACKGROUND: To extend the previous study by Schriever and colleagues from 2018 providing normative data and re-investigating the reliability for U-Sniff test in children in additional countries. METHODOLOGY: A total of 388 children (196 boys, 192 girls) from eight countries (China, Germany, Iran, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Paraguay, and Russia) participated in this study. The children were recruited from public local schools in those particular countries. The odor identification ability was evaluated using the U-Sniff test, a 12-item odor identification test developed for children. In addition, reliability was examined using test-retest design in the children for each country. RESULTS: The mean U-Sniff test score across all children was 10.3 +- 1.7 points. Normative data were established. A high test-retest reliability of the U-Sniff test was demonstrated across the eight participating countries. CONCLUSIONS: The U-Sniff test for children exhibits a high test-retest reliability on a global scale.

Influence of the Male Axillary Extracts on Regulation of Menstrual Cycles in Women.

The effect of male axillary extract on the length and regularity of the menstrual cycle in women was studied in a long-term experiment (9 months). The male secret extract had no statistically significant influence on the menstrual cycle duration in the reproductive-age women (21-45 years) with normal (26-32 days) and regular cycles or in women with abnormally short (<26 days) cycles. In the group of the reproductive-age women with irregular and abnormally long (>32 days) cycles, as well as in the group of the premenopauseage women (46-51 years) with irregular cycles, the secret extract caused a significant shortening of the menstrual cycle as compared to the control. The effect was preserved for at least two months after the exposure completed.

Individual variability of human olfactory sensitivity to volatile steroids: Environmental and genetic factors.

The sensitivity to androstenone and possible factors, determining the sensitivity were investigated for the large sample of inhabitants of central Russia (n = 860). Specific anosmia was detected in 48.8% of subjects. Women were more sensitive to androstenone than men. The proportion of men, but not women perceiving the smell of androstenone as a strong one in the concentration used decreased with age. Smoking, blood group, or ethnicity had no significant effect on the expression of specific anosmia and the perception of androstenone odor intensity.