What is life like without smells? | DW Documentary

Not being able to perceive your own or your partner's scent - a dramatic loss. Many people have experienced this for a short time due to Covid. But some people face the condition permanently. How do they live with it?

Our sense of smell has long been underestimated. No wonder -- after all, many people only perceive it subliminally and not consciously. Yet there is no scent-free space in our world. But since Covid-19 and the symptoms of loss of smell and taste, many people have begun to realize just how important smell is in our lives.
Our sense of smell is the oldest sense we have. Not only the enjoyment of our food, but also our memories, emotions and social interactions are influenced by it. The loss of the sense of smell, or ‘anosmia’, significantly impairs people's experience of the world.
In this documentary, people talk about their lives without smell. Take 31-year-old Sandra Maurer, who has been unable to smell since a coronavirus infection in 2021. Patients like Sandra suffer a great deal. She talks about how she copes and what treatment options are available.
There is another change in smell that many people have experienced since coronavirus: ‘parosmia’, or distorted smell. Lisa Horn experienced this. She explains how it affected her life when coffee suddenly smelled like faeces and even brushing her teeth and eating became a pain.
But what if you've never been able to smell before? Lauren Ramoser only noticed at the age of 11 in chemistry class that the strong-smelling acids seemed to smell "corrosive" to her classmates, but that she didn't notice anything herself. How does this affect a person’s life? When does Lauren need help? How can she cook without her sense of smell, which after all determines 80 percent of our taste experience?
Danish physician and foodie Alexander Wiecke Fjælstad developed a cooking course for people who cannot smell or can no longer smell, together with his chef friend Christian Bøjlund. Lauren Ramoser travels to Aarhus especially for the documentary to take part in this course and undergoes some important self-discovery.

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[JeannyK]

I had this when I got covid, with the loss of taste. I was traumatised, most painful feeling but it was restored when I recovered. It’s heartbreaking to realise there’s someone who never recovered from this painful experience.

[xjet]

I lost my sense of smell years ago thanks to Parkinson's disease. More life-changing than the loss of that sense was the accompanying attenuation to my sense of taste. I now only eat to ease hunger pangs and not for enjoyment. I have tried to focus on the texture of my food because there is very little taste. Even highly spiced foods such as the hottest curries are simply a sensation, not a taste.

On the positive side, at least it makes it easy to avoid getting fat.

[earthrider]

I went smell blind in '06.
My brain thinks it remembers smells tho.
So many things I miss smelling.... rain in the forest, fresh linens, coffee and my horses.... so many more.
Also there is some danger...I can't smell anything burning.
It's a strange disability.

[raymondcolison]

I once had a roommate whose cat went through a phase of peeing on stuff. Imagine not being able to smell dried cat pee on your clothes and not knowing that it doesn’t wash out all the time in the laundry and proceeding to go out in public smelling like cat pee. You’d have no idea. Makes me grateful for all five senses

[robintauber]

I've never had a sense of smell. It's interesting to hear of people who are just realizing that there are senses people lack that aren't just sight and hearing. I think, with any loss of ability, it's harder to adapt and live with if you have lived a lot of years before loosing it. I've never had these senses so I'm not missing it.... because I didn't loose it.

[Dimwiddle]

TL;DR - See if you have underlying health issues, outside of covid.

I thought covid lost me my smell and taste, so lost hope after a while. Tried doing the smell therapy, which helped out a bit. However it turned out that an underlying fungal infection was causing it. Once I treated that it came back almost immediately. I’m now smelling and tasting like a newborn baby.

Took me almost 3 years to uncover it, but so glad that I did.

[myhandlewastakenandIgaveup]

I barely have a sense of smell and am generally much more surprised (and often quite annoyed) when there are strong smells like perfume or chemical smells around me bc it is super distracting.

[PLuMUK]

My late friend had no sense of smell. She lost it in old age. It made life difficult for her. She didn't know if there was a problem with the gas, and once flooded her kitchen with it. Luckily, a friend visited and smelt it. We used to go and check food for her every few days. Strangely, her sense of taste was largely normal.

[mimikrya]

Almost all my life (from childhood to adulthood) I had no sense of smell at all. I think the real cause of that was complex because I've also been a mouth breather all my life. It's never been a big problem for me. I agree with the people in the documentary that the thing that bothered me the most was that I couldn't feel when something was on fire in the kitchen. Regarding the enjoyment of food, I have come to the conclusion that I feel the taste of food better than people who have a sense of smell. Just as blind people develop better other senses. Over the years, my nose has naturally become passable, but I still breathe through my mouth, and now I only smell smells if they are intense, if they are under my nose and if I deliberately inhale through my nose. However, now I am very uncomfortable with the smells of household cleaners and the air in perfumeries that enter my mouth when I breathe. I have never had the need to seek professional help due to my lack of sense of smell. A person can enjoy life quite a bit even without a sense of smell. Trust me.🙂

[empurress]

Speaking as someone with very little sense of smell, i'm mostly grateful i can't smell things as severely as others seem to.
My Grandmother had a heightened sense of smell, and she was always complaining about some odor or another,
When i do smell most things, they are pleasant. (Love that)
I have been on the receiving end of horrendous odor though.
THAT is a fate i wouldn't wish on most anyone.

[ColinJ]

I lost it with Covid a year ago. It’s traumatic. It just started coming back now, not as strong and some stuff just smells different and odd now.

[michaelsteven]

Most Important & Interesting ❤ ! Smell is the essence of life that sustains us in several ways ! Thanks for your video ❤️

[baraahhamdi]

you really helping me to understand the world in different way, thank you so much

[erbearthgarden]

I have the opposite problem. I smell everything. I smell the slightest change in things. Its a blessing and a curse. I lost my sense of smell when I got CVOID, I also almost lost my mind. haha My smell is fine now, Thank G-d.

[alicemarshall]

I lost my sense of smell when I was around 10-11 years old and I'm now almost 30 so I have been without it longer than I was with it. I don't miss it at all. I'm also deaf and blind in my right eye. I honestly don't miss any of my missing senses. My life is very quiet and half dark and no smells. I am able to be lost in my thoughts without any distractions at all for hours on end.

[kiruthishamathivannan]

I had the experience as i was affected by Covid. It was so cool in the beginning 😎 because i tried to smell petrol ⛽️, gasoline, perfume. And it was like nothing. Nothings at all. It took me more than 6 months to get the sense back. As i live in Asia, thankfully i could eat lot of spice and enjoy the numb feeling when i eat. Otherwise, i don't think i would have ever served.

[setimo]

I can only smell smells when something is very close to me or my nose. I'm almost insensitive

[ClassicalMartin]

These people can be very valuable workers in pathoanatomical units !!!

[gaminisusanhinda]

THANKS DW I TOO RECENTLY LOSS SMELL I ASSUME IT MAY BE AFTER COVID THIS IS ENLIGHTENING

[mohammedsaysrashid]

It was a great health scientific documentary shared by an excellent ( DW) documentary channel.