Renée Bacher is a freelance medical writer based in Louisiana.
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June 2021Loss of Smell Linked to Depression
People who have had COVID-19 may experience a loss of smell for a couple of weeks, but for long-haul COVID-19 patients, this can persist for months. Even before the pandemic, a 2016 systematic literature review published in the journal Chemical Senses found a relationship between olfaction and depression (Chem Senses. 2016;41:479-486). According to the study, “In patients with primary olfactory dysfunction, symptoms of depression worsen with severity of olfactory dysfunction.” The authors say it’s critical to be aware of the development of depression in patients with primary olfactory dysfunction to allow for early intervention and to prevent greater disease burden.
CRS vs. COVID
While there’s clear overlap between COVID-19 nasal symptoms and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), Michael Benninger, MD, chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s Head & Neck Institute and a professor of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said the nasal symptoms he and his colleagues have seen with COVID-19 are very different. CRS patients tend to have longer course symptoms, congestion and drainage, and a better response to systemic steroids and even to intranasal steroids.
“In general, the COVID-19 patients have smell loss and temporary congestion and drainage, similar to what we see in a common viral upper respiratory infection. The smell loss is often very sudden, even before other symptoms, although they typically don’t see an ENT at this point,” he said. “The tough ones are the people who already have CRS and then develop COVID-19, as it’s difficult determining which symptoms are related to which disorder.”