Olfactory tissue biopsies help researchers discover the mechanism responsible for COVID-19-related loss of smell, along with other long COVID symptoms.
G’day, Dr Karl here.
This story tells more about how under-rated our sense of smell really is – and how loss of smell can be an early indicator of COVID-19.
As an aside, a loss of smell can be deeply linked to some neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as several autoimmune diseases.These include Systemic Lupus Erythematosis SLE, Sjogren’s Disease, and many more.
Why? Well, it turns out that in your DNA, many of the genes associated with smell are located right next to a big bunch of genes that form your immune system, the so-called Major Histocompatibility Complex. Maybe this is the link.