Special next on d w. The global corona crisis you can find more Information Online at d w dot com. Social media titles. Eat drink and be merry. These are some of the great pleasures of life. Pleasures that covert 19 can take away. If youve lost your sense of smell or experiencing a change in your normal sense of smell or taste. That can be a symptom of coronavirus even where the symptoms are not present its one of the strongest warning signs of the corona virus and also one of its mysteries why do so many people lose their sense of taste and smell. This is deemed obvious coded 19th fashola im Kate Ferguson thanks for joining me many people who catch covert 1000 report a loss of taste and smell for thoma its one of a range of symptoms for others its the only one scientists studying the phenomenon believe the sensory impairment could be caused by the virus attacking a nerve cells and the know its leading to questions about the diseases effect on the brain mathias on kim is recovering from covert 19. This is the 1st day hes ventured outside in nearly 3 weeks hes eating again but only because he knows he has to when he was sick he struggled with a cough breathing difficulties and a High Temperature he also lost his sense of taste and smell and had no appetite hes lost 6 kilos. I didnt feel like anything sweeter savory nothing hearty on day 3 i realized i had no sense of smell of. A belgian study that looked at 417 covert 1000 patients showed that 86 percent of people with the disease lose their sense of smell and 88 percent lose their sense of taste this is surprising since the disease doesnt actually cause a block to nose the way colds do. A number of viral infections affects the nose and throat region and therefore the sense of smell but with this new strain of corona virus this happens more frequently. Neurologists fear the symptoms occur because corona virus attacks the nerve cells. The same phenomenon was observed with previous strains of corona virus. And with sars the earlier strain of corona virus close examination showed that it could affect the brain studies have shown that the virus can be that pervasive so its possible this new strain is too good right now we could be underestimating it as a moment because of the sensory impairment could be a disturbance in the olfactory bulb with sars 2002 animal experiments demonstrated that the virus progressed via nerve endings into the nasal nucleus membrane factory nerves and as far as the brains of factory bawled the virus travels across the synopses from neuron to neuron. Nausea extreme fatigue a loss of taste and smell and headaches all symptoms of covert 19 that have a neurological explanation. On come on hodgkin down with covert 90. She too had Unexpected Symptoms she had no sense of taste and smell for several days. She couldnt even stand the thought of food she normally enjoys. Shes commented it passed relatively quickly i could smell coffee again quite soon. Down but then i began to hallucinate smells as it were if you look see not see one elf. And in the few 1st days this was awful because they were horrible smells. For a while she thought she could smell seeping wounds then smoke and now and then frying bacon. This reaction is familiar to neurologists. It indicates that the brain is affected. From we know from patients whove lost their sense of smell permanently that certain smells are stored in the old factory bob can remember and. Even if the smell isnt actually there before. The good news is that for most people the loss of taste and smell from covert 19 is likely to be temporary but he is on can says he slowly getting better. For more im joined by dr catherine all our psychologist and researcher from the institute of neuroscience and medicine i think you Research Center in germany dr olah welcome the all time high youre part of an International Group of scientists that have set up an Online Survey to collect data on how covert 19 and other respiratory illnesses affect peoples sense of taste and smell what if you fight it so far. So we have analyzed the data the 1st 20000 participated and that participated already within less than the 1st 2 weeks off the survey and that showed pretty clearly that most patients who report that they have been diagnosed with copd and 19. Have a massive smell and taste abilities so its not just small reduction in their abilities to smell and taste but its really a loss for most of them so they conch taste and they can smell anything and some quite quite a few of the participants also lost their ability to experience either sensations like the spiciness optionally peppers for example in their mouth up a 5th or a big effect and ive many people might be familiar with a new thing this and the smell or taste say when they have a block know it as part of a regular cold but thats not whats happening with pope 19 if it. Exactly and that that is a bit of a surprise because very often when we have a cold or the flu our nose is blocked simply because the disposal and so naturally we cannot smell in that case we can still taste because the tongue is not a fact that we just think we cannot because all the food. Fields blend to us without the smell and what we see in co with 19 along with many of the other studies out there is that very few patients report a blocked nose so the nasal breathing seems to be just fine yet they cannot smell so that really indicates that here they are not losing their sense of smell or because simply the not was starved but that this is really affecting the smell physiology the all factory system here and i most of the time we take our sense of taste and smell for granted and its only when you meet with it that you think make up part of life and tell me about the psychological impact of losing these sensors in the long run. So what we know from it from a large body of literature is that it affects many aspects of fly if as you say we take it for granted so when we cannot smell any more food becomes boring and uninteresting and very little appealing to us because all that romance missing but it also affects social interactions people of varied that they may be smelling themselves so they are from their very devout body odor or speak as they cannot shake. And so they they avoid social contacts and parents report they missed the smell of their family and their kids and also people are scared because they may not be able to detect smoke anymore because we do this through our smell and so it affects many aspects and on the psychological side what has been observed is that people with loss of smell and taste a more prone to exit are to experience the press of disorder they are more likely to suffer from Anxiety Disorders and social disorder so and typically what is observed that is that quality of life affected dramatically so it is strange ust so it affects all aspects of our life and our psyche as well. So many things to think about doctor all that i feel what they are inside sure. Time now to answer your questions about coven 19 over into our science correspondents terry clements. The number of daily cases of covered 1000 has been steadily increasing but the absolute number of daily deaths worldwide is going down why these 2 statistics arent arent as closely tied as they appear to be 1st the plants its clear the number of confirmed daily cases globally will continue to rise at this point as our ability to detect infections quickly improves many many more tests are now being conducted that even just a few weeks ago so so its to be expected that many more people with mild cases will also be counted the number of deaths globally on the other hand peaked at the beginning of may but has since dropped off somewhat but but that also means less than it seems to mean deaths have fallen in some places like europe not least because treatments are improving as doctors gain experience with the disease but but in other parts of the world like latin america mortality is actually still on the rise the global mortality rate doesnt reveal Key Information like that it just reflects a world wide average so its a pretty blunt statistical instrument. Watch causes the blood clotting syndrome thats been seen an estimated one in 3 patients maybe more develop spit tensional a life threatening blood clots in belongs and other parts of the body as a symptom of covert 19 and and we still dont really know why but but experts are homing in on what are called and do feel legal cells they line the walls of blood vessels and they carry large numbers of the receptor as the virus uses. To enter the body we think the pathogen changes how these cells interact with with blood thats been made somehow stickier by the virus hormones that regulate the clotting process are also possibly involved the studies and trials are ongoing. And that fall they have time for thanks for watching from me its goodbye and take a. Listing in the slate. And inside. The Global Economy during the coronavirus 10 jemmett. Will the worlds find the right course no government measures to navigation. Probably only really in the same boat. Made in germany. D. W. Big problems despite the danger of coronavirus people who shop at weekly markets in zimbabwe and may be risking their lives much further are alternative. A new start of commuters fresh food and vegetable right to your door is specially when you know. If you save. The food for. 60 minutes total you. Like. A mug. Just. For the. So many different parts. Of the song or. Story. Come straight from. The rush into my journey today starts to maintain t. W. If the coronavirus pandemic remains the overriding issue across the world and i show today as well this is our planet theme from above while i only have