Loss of sense of smell can lead to pneumonia, new information from the Lancet

 The News Cover: One of the early symptoms of coronavirus is loss of taste and smell. Last year, doctors reported that the main symptom of the virus was the loss of taste. But a recent study by a team of scientists at Michigan State University found that loss of sense of smell was associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in the elderly. Their research is published in the journal Lancet Healthy Longevity. Loss of smell is one of the symptoms of Covid-19, but it has been associated with other diseases such as Parkinson's disease and dementia for nearly two decades.

Hankley Chen, a professor of epidemiology and biostatics at the University of Michigan, said about a quarter of people aged 65 and over have poor sense of smell. At first glance, a study by Chen and his team found a possible link between poor sense of smell and a high risk of pneumonia hospitalization.

They analyzed 13 years of health data from 29,944 adults in the 61- to 62-year-old age group in the metropolitan area of ​​Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Mainfish, Tennessee. The goal of this research was to see if there was a link between poor sense of smell and pneumonia. Those who took part in the study were tested for odors with lemon and gasoline, and their health was analyzed for the next 13 years. Scientists involved in the study said that those who had a very low sense of smell were more likely to develop pneumonia at any time. However, they also said that more experiments are needed in this regard.