Hyperosmia: Definition And Causes

Can you imagine what it would be like to smell sweat or manure with much more intensity than normal? A real torture, what do you say? Well, this is what people with hyperosmia suffer every day:  a disorder characterized by an exaggerated ability to perceive odors that other people may not even be able to detect.

Those suffering from hyperosmia may, for example, notice the aroma of a lily or jasmine submerged in a mountain of garbage  or recognize a person’s scent from far away. It does not mean that they are hounds or have superhuman abilities; they simply developed singular hypersensitivity and olfactory acuity.

Hyperosmia: dowry or disorder

This olfactory acuity has many advantages, but also many unpleasant consequences for those who enjoy it and, at the same time, suffer from it.  Some see it as a blessing, while for others it is a source of inexhaustible suffering. Let’s see some examples.

If we are on the landing of the stairs of our house and we get the smell of a stew or a tempting dessert that one of our neighbors is preparing, the most common thing is that we have a voracious appetite. How hungry! What a desire to join his table! On the other hand, if we have something good to eat at home or a certain familiarity with the neighbor, it is only an advantage. However, if what we smell so intensely and continuously is uninviting or if we cannot satisfy the need it awakens (hunger in the previous example), that changes .

If we are relaxing quietly in the living room, after a hard day of work and aromas of all kinds arrive without us being able to do anything to avoid it: the shoe polish that uses the one on the first floor, an air freshener from the bathroom, lacquer of the neighbor of the fifth cry or the oil of the browned stew. So, without stopping: every day and at any time. The only thing we would want would be to live with a clip pinned to the nose.

When does hyperosmia occur?

This pathology presents itself to the same extent, although in the opposite extreme, as two other types of perceptual disturbances related to smell: hyposmia, decreased olfactory sensitivity, and anosmia, or total absence of olfactory capacity.

Of the three,  hyperosmia is the least common and it is this that has kept it a little studied pathology. It is precisely its low impact on the population that has not allowed the causes that generate it to be known with greater certainty. However, we know that there are certain diagnoses or risk factors with which it is associated, such as menopause, Addison’s disease, hyperthyroidism or neuronal changes due to amphetamine use or withdrawal syndrome.

In some cases, this condition appears only for a specific period of time and goes away on its own. Only in extreme cases does it persist throughout life.

Do you play for or against?

For a perfumer or a sommelier, being affected by hyperosmia is a real advantage.  This is the case of the protagonist of the novel The perfume by Patrick Süskind and its film adaptation entitled  Perfume – Story of a murderer.  In his case, this hyperperception allowed him to be one of the best in his profession. For the rest of the people, however, it can be a real agony.

This disorder causes very serious problems in various social contexts, due  to the degree of rejection or annoyance that certain smells imply. For example, starting to consider your favorite dish as something repulsive or your personal scent as unbearable. People with hyperosmia can even faint if they are in very confined or crowded spaces, such as the subway or bus.

How does hyperosmia disappear?

Not being able to determine with certainty the origin, cures or treatments of hyperosmia, there are also contradictory results. For example, some dopamine antagonist antipsychotic drugs  have been used to treat this disorder. By inhibiting these neurotransmitters, the amount of odors reaching the olfactory bulb is limited.

Thanks to some testimonies of people who suffer from it, we know that smoking helps to decrease their olfactory capacity. But be careful! This statement must be taken with a grain of salt, because if there is one thing that has sufficient scientific evidence, it is that smoking does not improve health. Quite the contrary.

For this reason, one of the first things that sufferers of this pathology and those around the person must understand is to  avoid or remove strong smells that can be really unbearable. These are usually represented by foods such as fish, meat, some sauces or coffee. In the absence of drug treatment, all that remains is to regulate exposure.

Hyperosmia during pregnancy

A good percentage of people affected by hyperosmia in a “transient” way is represented by pregnant women. At the beginning and at the end of gestation they have olfactory hypersensitivity  mainly due to the increase in the concentration of estrogen and progesterone in their blood.

This means that the woman has a sharper sense of smell, that smells that she used to like now can be annoying to her and that she can even vomit more frequently, sensing smells that are really repulsive. In some women, this change diminishes or disappears after the first trimester. In others, it is maintained throughout the gestation period and gradually disappears after delivery.

It is possible that this physiological alteration was inherited from our ancestors so that the mother could recognize the smell of her baby at the time of birth .

Other curious perceptual disturbances related to smell

Dysosmia is a neurological disorder that causes an alteration of the sense of smell. It can manifest as anosmia (mentioned above), parosmia or phantosmia.

• Parosmia alludes to a worsening of olfactory function,  which results in the brain’s inability to correctly identify the natural or intrinsic smell of something in particular. For example, a person finds the aroma of a rose unpleasant, which is usually a pleasant smell.

• Phantosmia is a kind of olfactory hallucination  for which people smell odors that do not exist or that are not there. This phantom stench makes patients believe that there is a smell of gas and that, therefore, they are in a situation of risk. We are talking about a very strong suggestion of the smell.

The mere smell of fried food, however caloric it may be, does not take away our appetite. More information is needed on these disorders and, in particular, on hyperosmia. In order to reduce the impact on the lives of those who suffer from it, it is vital to be able to outline why and how it occurs.