Sabrina Nemis
student
- October 30, 2007 • 11:17 pm PDT
- + responses
Baking bread, a newly mown lawn, burning leaves, clean laundry, freshly popped popcorn. George Sager can't remember ever smelling any of these. He suffers from a little-known affliction called anosmia, which means that he can't smell anything.
His sense of smell hasn't affected his enjoyment of food and he can still experience a variety of flavours. Sager cites ice cream as one of his favourite foods. Ironically, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, also suffers from anosmia.
While anosmia is considered by some to be a disability as debilitating as being deaf or blind, Sager disagrees.
"The way I see it, its the [sense] to lose if you have to lose one,†says Sager, pointing out that there are many bad smells that he never has to experience.
While Sager does not see his anosmia as a disability, there are certainly dangerous disadvantages to being unable to smell. The ability to smell smoke, gas leaks and rotten food alert those who can smell to dangers they may not sense otherwise.
Some anosmics have suggested that dogs should be trained as "smelling-nose†dogs to help protect them from potential dangers. Sager laughs at this suggestion, pointing out that he has a smoke detector and while he may get a dog, it won't be for that reason.
Sager does not remember a time when he was not anosmic, but believes that he has an idea of what having a sense of smell would be like, leading him to believe that he was not born with anosmia. While he admits that he could be wrong, his assumption would fit with the most current research on anosmia.
Congenital anosmics often have other noticeable defects. Anosmia that develops in early childhood is often attributed to head injury or illness. The younger the person is when this occurs, the less likely they are to remember ever having a sense of smell.
In the last ten years, researchers have been working to get more funding for olfactory research. The Anosmia Foundation of Canada, founded in 2001, works to promote awareness of anosmia and to offer support for anosmia sufferers.
Sager has been to specialists, but they have been unfamiliar with his condition, fascinated, but unhelpful. None of them even realized that his condition was called anosmia and Sager only learned this later, through his own research.
Although Sager doesn't worry too much about his anosmia, if the treatment were available to give him his sense of smell, he would go for it. He points out, "Its not like I'm trying not to be able to smell. I just can't.â€
His sense of smell hasn't affected his enjoyment of food and he can still experience a variety of flavours. Sager cites ice cream as one of his favourite foods. Ironically, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, also suffers from anosmia.
While anosmia is considered by some to be a disability as debilitating as being deaf or blind, Sager disagrees.
"The way I see it, its the [sense] to lose if you have to lose one,†says Sager, pointing out that there are many bad smells that he never has to experience.
While Sager does not see his anosmia as a disability, there are certainly dangerous disadvantages to being unable to smell. The ability to smell smoke, gas leaks and rotten food alert those who can smell to dangers they may not sense otherwise.
Some anosmics have suggested that dogs should be trained as "smelling-nose†dogs to help protect them from potential dangers. Sager laughs at this suggestion, pointing out that he has a smoke detector and while he may get a dog, it won't be for that reason.
Sager does not remember a time when he was not anosmic, but believes that he has an idea of what having a sense of smell would be like, leading him to believe that he was not born with anosmia. While he admits that he could be wrong, his assumption would fit with the most current research on anosmia.
Congenital anosmics often have other noticeable defects. Anosmia that develops in early childhood is often attributed to head injury or illness. The younger the person is when this occurs, the less likely they are to remember ever having a sense of smell.
In the last ten years, researchers have been working to get more funding for olfactory research. The Anosmia Foundation of Canada, founded in 2001, works to promote awareness of anosmia and to offer support for anosmia sufferers.
Sager has been to specialists, but they have been unfamiliar with his condition, fascinated, but unhelpful. None of them even realized that his condition was called anosmia and Sager only learned this later, through his own research.
Although Sager doesn't worry too much about his anosmia, if the treatment were available to give him his sense of smell, he would go for it. He points out, "Its not like I'm trying not to be able to smell. I just can't.â€
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