Thursday, February 16, 2012
Ask the Doctor: Some Have No Sense of Taste
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am an 86-year-old female amputee.
I drive my car, shop for groceries, play bingo and keep as active as possible.
I have lost about 95% of my taste.
My doctor says, “The golden years, my dear.“
He’s probably right, because he usually is.
However, I thought I’d get a second opinion.
I love to eat, and this is very frustrating. - G.H.
ANSWER: Taste and smell go hand in hand.
The tongue recognizes only sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes.
The nose makes a huge contribution in detecting food flavor through its aroma.
The texture of foods and their temperature also contribute to their palatability.
A search for taste loss has to include the mouth, tongue, nose and sinuses.
Head injuries, smoking, allergies and nasal polyps interfere with the appreciation of food.
And your doctor is right; aging makes a contribution, too.
Viral infections like the simple cold diminish or eliminate taste, usually for a limited time, but sometimes forever.
Finding where the problem lies - nose or mouth - entails checking the tongue for taste perceptions and the nose for smell perceptions through a battery of taste and smell tests.
Medicines that disrupt smell appreciation include amlodipine, diltiazem, doxycycline, lovastatin, methotrexate and nifedipine.
Capoten and enalapril can alter taste perception.
So do a number of illnesses, like Crohn’s disease, cirrhosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Sjogren’s syndrome.
A chronically dry mouth also can diminish taste.
Thrush, a mouth infection with the yeast candida, is another condition that leaves the tongue without taste.
Some tricks can restore savor to food.
Vary mouthfuls of food.
After a bite of meat, take some vegetables or a piece of bread or a forkful of salad.
The same goes for food textures - something crunchy after something smooth.
Marinate meats in things like bouillon.
Use flavor enhancers such as vinegar, cayenne pepper, lemon, vanilla and monosodium glutamate.
Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.
The message should be much more important than the messenger but still people just don’t read or take the responsibility of independent thinking. It seems more important to know who said it, to be on the “right” side. I don’t like bullies. I don’t care for people telling others what they should and should not say or how to say it. That’s my right, my opinion. Don’t have any problem signing my name to this but for now I’ll just use…
To Not Me,