Medical Questions » Smell and Taste Questions » Question No. 932
| Question: | After having a heart attack, my brother has been left with no sense of smell for hot foods. Doctors have come up with all sorts of suggestions to explain this, but no help. He is getting despondent and I hope you can help. |
| Answer: | Your sense of smell comes from a nerve that sends tiny sensitive hairs into the top of your nose. These detect certain different odours, and convey the sensation back down the nerve to the part of the brain that can recognise them as particular smells.
During a heart attack, the heart stops working as an effective pump, and some parts of the body may be deprived of an adequate blood supply. When this happens, the more sensitive parts of the body (eg. the brain) may be permanently damaged.
It is also possible for a small stroke to accompany a heart attack.
In either case, it is probable that the part of your brothers brain that is responsible for the sense of smell has been partly damaged, so that he can no longer smell as well as he could previously.
Unfortunately, brain damage is usually permanent, and although some recovery may occur by new nerves taking on old tasks, once a few months has passed, no further improvement can be expected. There is no effective treatment available.
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