February 27th: Anosmia Awareness Day & Fifth Sense

What does your sense of smell mean to you? Next time you inhale one of your favourite fragrances, consider the many among us who have lost their senses of smell and taste to conditions such as anosmia. Little understood and often dismissed by the scientific research and medical communities, smell and taste disorders can be caused by head injury, illness or age. Anyone who loves perfume, flowers, food and wine will appreciate the importance of the sense of smell - and the implications of losing this. Anosmia sufferers who have spoken candidly about their experience include Olympic double gold medal rower James Cracknell OBE; food writer Marlena Spieler; and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream’s Ben Cohen. Founded by Duncan Boak, Fifth Sense is the first charity to provide current, comprehensive information and advice about smell and taste-related disorders, leading the effort to educate society about the critical role that the sense of smell plays in our lives.

Fifth Sense will launch on March 15, 2014 with an event run in partnership with the University of London’s Centre for the Study of the Senses, whose Rethinking the Senses Olfaction Workshop takes place on March 14. For further information, please visit www.fifthsense.org.uk or email Fifth Sense at info@fifthsense.org.uk.

press info by Maggie Rosen

And here are two clips on Anosmia with professor Thomas Hummel from the Smell & Taste Clinic.