Anosomia — or What Smell

I love my morning cup of coffee.

I know! It's the smell... that's what gets me up in the morning!

So Norbert, imagine not being able to smell that — or anything else!

According to the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, some who used a product called Zicam lost their sense of smell. The agency recommends consumers stop using Zicam immediately and asked the company to not market the nasal spray unless it applies for a formal drug approval.

Zicam is not regulated by the FDA because it's sold as a homeopathic remedy that claims to shorten the duration and severity of colds. A lesson here is — with alternative remedies you could be either wasting your money or, worse, risking your health.

With Zicam, the active ingredient is zinc, a naturally occurring mineral generally recognized as safe. But sometimes when sprayed into the nose, the mineral can damage receptors — reducing or eliminating the ability to smell.

Losing your sense of smell entirely is called anosmia. It can be caused by smoking, certain medications and diseases, the inhaling of some chemicals, obstructions, as well as trauma.

Without a sense of smell, eating and drinking lose their power and fun! Tastes lose their complexity, so that coffee may end up being bitter tasting water. Plus, you'd lose valuable environmental cues such as spoiled milk or the smell of smoke to warn you of a fire.

Treatments vary, depending on the cause. For example, surgery can cure those with obstructions such as polyps or deviated septums. One clinical trial involves using retinoic acid to stimulate the regrowth of the olfactory nerves.

As for Zicam, the FDA recommends consumers who have used Zicam to contact their physician if they've lost their sense of smell and to contact the agency.