Ruggiero Gabrielle F, Wick Jeannette Y
Consult Pharm. 2016 Nov 1;31(11):624-632. doi: 10.4140/TCP.n.2016.624.
Estimates indicate that 14 million Americans have olfactory dysfunction. As with other senses, such as sight and hearing, olfaction frequently declines with age. Impaired olfaction can be a warning sign of Parkinson's disease, sometimes occurring before motor symptoms develop. It's also an initial symptom of Alzheimer's dementia (AD); the amyloid plaques and tangles characterizing AD invade the olfactory bulb and hippocampus early in its course, hampering odor identification. Olfactory dysfunction is associated with some serious problems, including inability to smell warning odors (fire, gas) and impaired ability to taste food. Standardized, validated methods are available to measure several different dimensions of olfactory function, including odor identification, discrimination, and threshold levels. Researchers are currently studying the unique olfactory deficits associated with different conditions in hopes of identifying new, noninvasive tools for early diagnosis and treatment. Drugs may cause or contribute to olfactory dysfunction, but it can be difficult to pinpoint offending medications.
据估计，1400万美国人存在嗅觉功能障碍。与视觉和听觉等其他感官一样，嗅觉常常会随着年龄的增长而衰退。嗅觉受损可能是帕金森病的一个警示信号，有时会在运动症状出现之前发生。它也是阿尔茨海默病性痴呆（AD）的初始症状；AD的特征性淀粉样斑块和缠结在病程早期就会侵入嗅球和海马体，妨碍气味识别。嗅觉功能障碍与一些严重问题相关，包括无法闻到警示气味（火灾、煤气）以及味觉能力受损。目前有标准化的、经过验证的方法来测量嗅觉功能的几个不同维度，包括气味识别、辨别和阈值水平。研究人员目前正在研究与不同病症相关的独特嗅觉缺陷，希望能找到用于早期诊断和治疗的新型非侵入性工具。药物可能会导致或促成嗅觉功能障碍，但很难确定是哪种药物引起的。
