Disorders of smell and taste. Loss of food taste (lack of sweet, salty taste)

Throughout life, every person periodically encounters such an unpleasant phenomenon as loss of taste. This condition may be temporary, after a person has damaged the mucous membrane of the tongue with hot or open food, or it may continue. longer time. In the latter case, it is necessary full examination to rule out serious illnesses.

Causes of loss of taste

The diagnosis of "hypogeusia" is made to the patient if he has a change taste sensations. The change in taste can be of a different nature:

Injury to the taste buds on the tongue. It happens with burns of the mucosa and mechanical damage. Experts equate this malaise with transport losses.
damage to receptor cells. This phenomenon is already related to sensory disorders.
Diseases of a neurological nature, in which there is atrophy of the afferent nerve or a violation of the functions of the taste analyzer.

The reasons for the loss of taste of food can be completely different. Serious diseases and a lack of certain substances in the body can provoke such a phenomenon:

Paralysis facial nerve. With this pathology, there is a violation of the sensitivity of the very tip of the tongue.
Traumatic brain injury. In this case, a person cannot identify complex flavor compositions. At the same time, it distinguishes sweet, salty, bitter and sour taste well.
Colds. In this case, it may happen that senses such as smell have disappeared, which is associated with severe swelling of the nasopharynx.
Cancers of the tongue. Most often, the tumor develops closer to the base of the tongue, on the side. This leads to the death of taste buds. The disease is accompanied by pain and bad smell from mouth.
geographical language. So original name characterized by inflammation of the papillae of the tongue. With such a disease, spots appear on the surface of the tongue. different sizes and forms.
Oral candidiasis. It is manifested by the appearance of a curdled layer on the tongue and oral mucosa. When plaque is removed, bleeding ulcers occur. The disease proceeds with a violation of taste sensations.
Sjögren's disease. it genetic disease in which the work of the glands is disrupted. Due to the lack of saliva, the oral mucosa dries up and becomes susceptible to infections. With this syndrome, patients do not feel the taste of food.
Hepatitis. At acute course diseases, dyspeptic phenomena are observed, which are accompanied by a change in taste perception.
Side effects from radiotherapy. After treating oncology with this method, patients experience a lack of taste.
Deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals. Taste problems have been found to be caused by zinc and vitamin B deficiencies.
Side effects from medicines. Some antibiotics, antidepressants, antihistamines and vasoconstrictor drops into the nose.
Prolonged smoking. We are talking not only about cigarettes, but also a pipe. Tobacco smoke is a toxic compound and leads to atrophy of the taste buds on the tongue.

The reason that the taste has changed can be any injury to the pharynx, nose and head as a whole. Only a doctor can make a correct diagnosis.

If a Small child complains that he has lost his taste, do not rush to conclusions. Toddlers are sometimes cunning when they do not want to eat this or that dish.

Clinical picture

Ageusia can be general, selective and specific. With general ageusia, the patient does not feel the taste at all, with the selective form, the person feels only some tastes. With a specific form, a change in taste is possible only when using certain products.

In addition, under the influence of negative factors, dysgeusia can develop. With this disease, certain taste qualities are incorrectly perceived. Most often confuse sour and bitter tastes.

If a person has lost his taste, then at the same time he may experience a loss of smell and a feeling of nasal congestion. In some people, ageusia is accompanied by weakness and irritability.

If the cause of the change in taste sensations is a traumatic brain injury, then at the same time headache, dizziness and incoordination.

Diagnostics

Although loss of taste is not considered a critical condition, it requires a mandatory consultation with a doctor.. Initially, the doctor determines the level of sensitivity of the patient to certain tastes. The patient is offered to alternately determine the taste of different substances. According to the results of this test, the doctor determines the nature of the damage to the taste buds.

The doctor collects an anamnesis, asking the patient if he had a traumatic brain injury and if he suffers from neurological diseases. are taken into account and oncological diseases treated with radiation therapy.

The specialist pays attention to the medications that the patient is taking. Some of them are accompanied side effects in the form of taste disturbances.

Assigned if necessary CT scan. It displays the state of the brain and nasal appendages. The patient may be referred for a consultation with a dentist if there are signs of stomatitis.

Assign a detailed blood test and allergy tests. They allow you to determine the inflammatory process in the body and identify susceptibility to irritating substances. If it is not possible to determine the cause of the violations, then after a couple of weeks a second diagnosis is carried out.

Taste sensations can change during pregnancy, during menopause, and in other cases when the hormonal balance is disturbed.

Treatment

The treatment regimen is determined after the diagnosis has been made. Depending on the cause of the change in taste sensations, the following medications may be prescribed:

Dryness of the mucosa caused by underproduction saliva, it is advisable to prescribe artificial saliva preparations. These include Salivart.
The patient is advised to rinse the mouth frequently. soda solution or Chlorophyllipt solution.
With stomatitis and other fungal diseases, antimycotic agents are prescribed - Clotrimazole or Nystatin.
With a lack of vitamins and minerals, a course of multivitamin complexes is prescribed.
With neurological disorders, it is enough to drink decoctions medicinal herbs. Suitable herbs with sedative effect- mint, motherwort, hops and valerian.
To improve the taste of food, cinnamon, cloves, mustard and ground pepper are added to it.

To prevent a violation of taste perception, you should regularly clean the surface of the tongue with a brush or a special device.

Loss of taste may be associated with neurological disorders and diseases of the oropharynx. Often cause a problem fungal infections and lack of minerals in the body.

The common cold is known for dulling the perception of food. But sometimes even stranger things happen: a bad taste appears in the mouth or the food changes the taste. Should we pay attention to such changes?

Such different food
According to the ancient Indian treatises on Ayurveda - the science of life - in any food there should be six basic tastes: bitter, sweet, sour, salty, spicy and astringent. "Skewing" towards one taste leads to the fact that the dish is poorly absorbed by the body.

A bitter taste is inherent in many spices. Bitterness gives citrus zest. Bitter dishes quench thirst a little on warm days, help with indigestion, stimulate appetite. Excess bitter taste makes a person more agitated, nervous and dries the skin.

Sweet taste causes a surge of strength, Have a good mood which improves digestion. But the "chronic" sweet tooth is at risk of getting fat. Excess carbohydrates damage the skin.

Sour taste is one of the main ones in the national cuisine. Our ancestors treated sour dishes food poisoning, believing that acid cleanses the intestines, promotes the removal of harmful substances. Tomatoes, lemons, some varieties of grapes and apples are distinguished by natural acid. Excess acid in the body relaxes the intestines and contributes to the appearance of edema.

Salty taste is also among the favorites of national cuisine. But don't overdo it! Salt dehydrates the skin, causing it premature aging and consequently - the appearance of wrinkles. For the kidneys, too salty food is a big burden.

Spicy taste is already more part of Indian national cuisine. Hindus love to have everything on fire in their mouths! Why? Spicy spices promote disinfection digestive system which is very important in hot climates. Sharpness - well-known radish and garlic. Use spicy food not recommended for those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The astringent taste in our minds is strongly associated with unripe persimmons and bananas. A little knit potatoes and legumes. Astringent foods help heal wounds, but they are hard to digest. Them overuse leads to vasoconstriction.

Sweet or bitter?
If your mouth tastes sweet no matter what you eat, you should check your blood sugar levels - this is one of the symptoms of insulin-dependent diabetes.

A bitter taste indicates problems with gallbladder. It is possible that stones or stagnation of bile have formed in it.

At hyperacidity and peptic ulcer everything seems sour. Do not pull with a visit to the doctor and examination of the stomach!

If you become spicier than usual, taste sweet and sour, it is worth checking your kidney function.

Taking certain medications — especially antibiotics — can cause a bad taste in your mouth. Perhaps these drugs violate the microflora of the oral cavity.

It also happens that a person complains not about a change in taste, but about its “mutedness”. The food is the same, not as tasty as before. Often these complaints come from older people. Unfortunately, this normal phenomenon. The taste buds located on the tongue are not as sensitive in old age as they are in younger years. Most often, those who have preferred too spicy food all their lives lose their brightness of taste sensations. The sharpness of taste perception is also reduced in heavy smokers and in people suffering from respiratory diseases.

An alarming symptom is the lack of sensitivity of part of the tongue. This may indicate damage to a certain part of the brain. The conclusion suggests itself: if you are constantly worried about the change in your usual taste sensations, you should contact a specialist!

Loss of tastea disease that is accompanied by a violation in the work of taste buds. It can be short-term - after eating too hot or cold food, or long-term, and this already signals problems with internal organs:

ageusia is a pathological process accompanied by complete loss of taste perception;
hypogeusia is a disease in which there is partial loss of taste;
dysgeusia is a pathology characterized by perversion of taste sensations, a change in perception.

Causes of complete loss of taste

The main factor in the complete loss of the taste of sweetness or salt areprolonged depression and stress. Other factors of ageusia include:

infectious lesions of the conduction pathways of the nervous system;
inflammation of the lingual nerve or drum string, accompanied by neuritis of the facial nerve;
damage to the back of the tongue, which leads to neuritis of the glossopharyngeal nerve;
pathology of the medulla oblongata;
inflammation of the vagus nerve.

It is interesting! There are more bitter receptors in the human body than the rest. This is due to the fact that most toxic substances have a bitter and burning taste.

Diseases in which there is a complete or partial loss of taste

Neuritis of the facial nerve or inflammatory lesion of the nerve that is responsible for the facial muscles. In addition to loss of taste, the patient has a weakening of the muscles of the face, asymmetry. The patient cannot smile or frown, the process of chewing food is difficult.
Paresis of the facial nerve or paralysis - a pathology of the nervous system, occurs due to an infectious lesion of the upper respiratory tract. Accompanied by pathology taste disturbance, facial asymmetry.
Spicy viral hepatitis – infection liver, due to which impaired taste perception. The main symptoms of the disease are jaundice, diarrhea, vomiting and loss of appetite.
Sjögren's syndrome - autoimmune lesion, which is accompanied by a decrease in secretion by the salivary and lacrimal glands. Dryness in the nasopharynx, burning in the eyes and loss of taste- symptoms of this disease.
SARS - a viral lesion of the taste buds, damage to the nerve endings of the receptors responsible for taste, nasal congestion contributes to a partial loss of taste. Normalization of taste perception is achieved after the suppression of the virus in the body.

Causes of partial loss of taste

Conventionally, the language can be divided into four parts, each of which is responsible for the perception of a particular taste.

Photo 1: The tip of the tongue is responsible for the sensation of sweet taste, the middle - for salty, rear end perceives bitter, and the edges of the tongue are responsible for sour sensations. Perceptual impairment is associated with various pathological processes in different parts language. Source: flickr ("R☼Wεnα").

Lost sweet taste

Loss of sweet taste may occur due to inflammatory process on the tip of the tongue, burn lesions or injury to the area. Disturbances in the papillae of the tongue, pathologies of nerve impulse conduction to the brain are also factors in reducing the sensation of sweetness.

If there is no salty taste

The weakening of the sensation of salty taste or its complete loss indicates injury to the middle part of the tongue. Bacterial and fungal infections (candidiasis) affect the tissues where taste buds are located.

Loss of salty taste perception is often caused by heavy smoking causing the taste buds to atrophy. Malignant neoplasms in the brain provoke ageusia or hypogeusia of salty taste, since the brain cannot recognize the incoming impulse.

Loss of sweet and salty taste

There are also several reasons that provoke the loss of sweet and salty taste at the same time:

thyroid pathology;
prolonged use of antibiotics a wide range actions, antihistamines, anticonvulsant drugs;
hypovitaminosis (especially vitamin B12);
lack of zinc in the body.

Partial loss of taste (sweet or salty) is often noted in patientssuffering epileptic seizures . Also common factors of hypogeusia are:

changes in deep divisions in temporal lobe brain, which is accompanied mental disorders and schizophrenia;
neuritis of the fifth or seventh pair of cranial nerves;
brain stem damage.

How to treat loss of taste

For quick recovery taste sensations you should consult a specialist to diagnose the cause of the disease. Depending on the factor contributing to the loss of taste, appropriate treatment is prescribed:

Dryness in the mouth, accompanied by insufficient secretion of saliva eliminate drugs that help moisturize the oral mucosa. For this, artificial saliva preparations are prescribed - Salivart, Mouth Kote.
In addition to drugs you can use mouthwash. They not only moisturize the mucous membrane, but also have an antibacterial effect.
If the loss of taste is associated with fungal infections of the mouth, prescribe drugs for candidiasis - Clotrimazole solution, Decamine ointment.
When diagnosing a lack of Zinc and vitamin B12 in the body appoint Zincteral, Berocca, intramuscular injections cyanocobalamin. Additionally, multivitamin complexes can be prescribed.
Help decoctions of herbs will help restore taste perception. The leaves of peppermint, lemon balm and motherwort have a sedative effect and eliminate main reason pathology - neurosis. In case of infection of the oral cavity of a bacterial or fungal nature, rinses from chamomile flowers, calendula and oak bark are used.
To enhance the sharpness it is necessary to add spices such as cloves, cinnamon, mustard and lemon to food.

Photo 2: Regular cleaning of the surface of the tongue reduces the risk of taste loss.

Several diseases. Some of them are quite serious.

Taste can be lost due to diseases of the mouth, brain and other organs very remote from the oral cavity. Some diseases cause a complete loss of taste, others only a partial one. With some diseases, you will not feel the taste of certain types of food, with others, you will be haunted by the same taste. This could be tolerated if you chose this ghostly flavor on your own. Most often this phantom taste is not the taste of chocolate hazelnut cream, no, it is sour, bitter, metallic or some kind of disgusting taste. These and other taste disorders spoil your appetite, prevent you from communicating normally with people. Thus, violations of the sense of taste are never indifferent to the patient.

Fortunately, in most cases, the reason for the loss of the ability to taste can be caused by general malaise and disorders. So, runny nose when runny nose almost rivers of mucus, often deprives you of taste for a while. “Nearly 25% of patients with taste disorders have post-influenza hypogeusia (a decrease in the ability to taste) and dysgeusia (a perversion of this ability),” explains Dr. Robert Henkin, Director medical center molecular nutrition and sensory disturbances Georgetown University in Washington.

Why does the flu affect the ability to perceive taste? The same viruses that cause symptoms nasal congestion, fatigue and muscle pain, which are so characteristic of the flu, also affects the taste buds. The same viruses can attack the nerve endings of the taste buds, causing loss of taste. Hay fever and its accompanying allergies can also impair the ability to taste; in addition, the congestion of the nose caused by this condition prevents the full perception of odors, thereby depriving the food of its aroma.

Taste thieves are not always "aliens" in your mouth. In normal times this faithful friends his. For example, salivary glands play important role in the process of tasting. Any delay in salivation can pervert the sense of taste .

There are a whole bunch of other “scammers” who are guilty of violating the perception of taste. No, they do not steal the ability to sense taste, but they change it beyond recognition and by no means better side. Gum diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis and dental caries can leave a very bad taste in the mouth. It has the same effect necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis .

Dentures irritate the mouth even more. New or tight-fitting dentures interfere with taste perception. The reason is that the prosthesis covers many taste buds located on the hard palate. This causes the patient to add more spices to the food in order to compensate for the loss of taste.

You won't taste what's in your mouth until your brain tells you what you actually feel. Therefore, serious, although infrequent, neurological disorders can cause a weakening, complete disappearance or perversion of the sense of taste. These disorders include brain tumors, diseases of the cranial nerves, disorders cerebral circulation and head trauma.

Many other reasons can lead to the same result - loss of taste. "Anything can affect taste, from ear surgery to vitamin and salt deficiencies," says Dr. Henkin. Hormonal abnormalities that are characteristic during pregnancy and in menstrual period, can cause peculiar changes in taste sensation. bad taste appears in the mouth when taking certain drugs and after an alcoholic excess.

Finally, malnutrition can manifest itself as taste disorders. Vitamin B12 or vitamin A deficiency sometimes causes partial or complete loss of taste. The sense of taste is almost always damaged in zinc deficiency. “It is clear that zinc deficiency impairs taste perception,” one study concluded on the subject.

What to do.“Most often it turns out that the loss of the sense of taste is a general medical problem, and not a narrowly dental one,” says Dr. Robert Mullin. “This condition should be evaluated by a therapist.” Any change in the ability to perceive taste that came on suddenly, as well as a quickly onset taste perversion, is an occasion for a comprehensive examination of the patient in order to find out the cause.

Associated symptoms. If you have experienced a loss of taste sensitivity, you feel pain and see redness in the area of \u200b\u200bthe wisdom teeth, this means that there is an infectious inflammation at the site of eruption of these teeth.

You must understand that the same symptoms can be caused by other diseases. If you have signs of inflammation (pulpitis) of the wisdom tooth and, in addition, in the same place you feel a small soft swelling on the gum, while you fever and the corresponding side of the face and neck is somewhat swollen, then the combination of these signs indicates the presence of an abscess on the root of the wisdom tooth.

In both cases, you need to urgently see a dentist.

Violation of taste sensations is dangerous primarily because a person loses the ability to identify spoiled foods, may inadvertently taste poison, not recognize acid. In some cases, this indicates problems in central departments brain or other serious illnesses. Therefore, if the taste does not return for several days, measures must be taken immediately.

A violation of taste sensations is a condition when it is difficult for a person, and in some cases it is impossible to determine the taste of a substance with the help of receptor cells. The disease can occur when the taste buds or nerves that are responsible for transmitting impulses to the brain are damaged, if there are problems in the cerebral cortex, often the taste sensations disappear due to the lack of smell.

Taste is a sensation that appears when the taste buds located in the oral cavity are exposed to various substances, which, with the help of the facial, glossopharyngeal or vagus nerve they transmit information to the cerebral cortex, where, after analyzing the information and combining it with the data received from the olfactory organ and with other sensations, it gives the result.

Taste buds are able to distinguish only four (five after another classification) tastes: sour, salty, bitter, sweet, and also umami. The taste acquires a hue when the basic sensations are combined with the density, temperature, acidity, spiciness of the food that it perceives. oral cavity, first of all, the tongue, as well as the organ of smell.

Of the twelve thousand taste buds that are in the oral cavity, ten thousand are located on the tongue, the rest are on the cheeks, palate, larynx, epiglottis, and pharynx.

They are neuroepithelial cells collected in papillae (from a few pieces in small bulbs, up to five hundred in large bulbs). Most of the bulbs are concentrated at the tip of the tongue, as they approach the root of the tongue, their number decreases.

A hole is formed in the center of the bulb, through which each receptor located in it brings out the finest villi, which, when in contact with chemical, are responsible for taste identification. A single receptor is able to recognize only one taste (sweet, salty, bitter, sour), so they are collected in one bulb only with those receptors that are able to perceive the same sensations as them.

The lifespan of the receptor is short: it lives no longer than fourteen days, and after it dies, it is replaced by another, which is the reason that with age, a person often changes taste preferences(In this case, the sense of smell plays an important role).

Each taste bud is connected to a central nervous system with help nerve fibers, which send data about the identified taste. First, the impulses enter the brain stem, after which they go to the thalamus, to the part of the brain where the final processing of information takes place and the taste and its shade are determined.

Taste disturbance

A person is not able to identify the taste until the analyzer located in the cerebral cortex determines it. Therefore, a change in taste sensations can signal a rather serious problems. These can be neurological disorders, a brain tumor, a disease of the cranial nerves, a head injury, a violation of cerebral circulation. Sometimes the taste is lost partially and after some time is restored, sometimes completely and irreversibly.

When talking about problems in the perception of taste sensations, they mean the following types of diseases:

Ageusia - the taste is completely absent;
Hypogeusia - the taste is felt, but weaker than usual;
Dissociated hypogeusia - receptors determine taste sensations, but not all;
Dysgeusia is a change in taste sensations, often manifesting as metallic or sour taste in the mouth, sometimes there is a burning sensation;
Parageusia - when one sensation is replaced by another (sour is confused with bitter);
Phantageusia - a non-existent taste is felt.

The reasons

One of the main causes of loss of taste is a cold or flu: severe runny nose often dulls for a while, or even completely deprives of taste sensations. This happens due to the fact that the viruses that cause a runny nose also affect the taste buds, which makes them unable to perceive the necessary feeling.

Also, one of the reasons for the change in taste sensations is an allergy, which stuffs the nose and prevents you from fully perceiving the taste, depriving food of aroma.

Often the reason for the weakening of taste sensations is saliva, or rather, its absence or small amount. In order for the receptors to be able to correctly identify the taste of food, it should not be dry: even a cracker that finds itself in the mouth is instantly moistened with saliva. If there is no saliva at all (during dehydration of the body), taste receptors will not determine, if there is not much of it, they will perceive it, but incorrectly.

Another reason that can change the perception of taste beyond recognition is a disease of the oral cavity - inflammation of the gums, tooth roots, caries. Sometimes a person loses feeling due to blockage of receptors by bacteria. Dentures also contribute, which are extremely irritating to the mouth, as they block receptors on hard sky, which is why the patient, in order to compensate for the weakening of taste, adds more spices to food.

Taste disturbance can cause hormonal abnormalities that occur in women during pregnancy or during the menstrual period.

Often the cause is taking antibiotics, drugs that reduce saliva secretion, as well as drugs that slow down cell regeneration, including antitumor drugs.

Taste may be lost during radiotherapy of the oral cavity and pharynx, benign and malignant tumors, diseases endocrine system, diabetes, problems with digestive tract, poisoning with salts of heavy metals or alcohol abuse. Malnutrition, especially the lack of vitamins A and B12, and zinc deficiency can also affect taste sensations.

Also, the weakening of taste often comes with age. In this case, its partial loss is usually observed, when the perception of salty and bitter worsens, while this almost does not apply to sweet. In addition, with age, taste buds atrophy with heavy smoking, as well as with food intake, which contains substances that irritate nerve endings (spicy, peppery dishes).

Treatment

With a loss of taste sensations, it should be borne in mind that this problem is not so much dental as general medical, therefore, if similar disease you need to contact a therapist and it is advisable not to hesitate. Any disturbance of taste, especially if it occurs suddenly, without any apparent reason, is a reason to undergo a comprehensive examination, especially if, after the first tests, the doctor with a diagnosis is at a loss.

The doctor will be able to prescribe treatment only after the cause of the loss of taste sensations is determined. When the underlying disease is cured, the sense of taste usually returns. To restore taste sensations, doctors often carry out the psychological mood of the patient, while giving some important advice:

First of all, the patient is explained how taste is recognized and how temperature, density, and spiciness of food affect it. This knowledge often contributes to the improvement of taste perception.
The patient is also advised to learn to enjoy the aroma of food: this affects the sense of smell, which has a direct interaction with the taste analyzer.
The main rule to follow is the need to eat only fresh quality food and make sure that it does not deteriorate during storage in the refrigerator. Otherwise, if the taste is disturbed, you can eat the spoiled product and get poisoned by it.