# Is there a test for losing your sense of smell?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 10, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197 "2004-12-10T19:51:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Limbo\_Donni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limbo_Donni)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/1 "2004-12-10T19:51:43Z")
They say if you lose your sense of smell that food tastes bland, but that’s really so variable.
Is there an objective test of any kind?
Also, are there different kinds of losing your sense of smell? Can you lose just the sense for garlic but not vinegar, or flowers but not gas leaks?
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### Author:  [@Limbo\_Donni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limbo_Donni)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/2 "2004-12-11T01:24:40Z")
bump
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### Author:  [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/3 "2004-12-11T01:56:00Z")
Well, there are more sensitive quantifying tests, but the standard screening test is just to ask the patient to identify and assess the strength of some common scents on a cotton ball, like rose, peppermint, etc. If you’re concerned with the strength of your sense of smell, try comparing your response to an array of common smells with that of your friends, using dilutions of easily identified scents like cinnamon (in the west - don’t do this to a Japanese; it was rated as the most repulsive Western food smell before WWII, though that response is decreasing with increasing Westernization and exposure), vanilla, lemon, etc.
I carry a few food scents in my “little black bag”, but I’m mostly looking for anosmia (loss of smell sense) not quantifying the strength of the response.
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### Author:  [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/4 "2004-12-11T02:02:29Z")
After posting this, I realized that I lied. I’ve only use cotton balls when testing dilutions, which I’ve almost never done since medical school. For simple testing, I just wave the bottle under their nose. Waste not, want not. Also, a cotton ball might increase volatilization, intensifying the smell. With many common kitchen extracts, this is unnecessary. You can smell them from across the room.
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### Author:  [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/5 "2004-12-11T11:41:37Z")
Simple test…can you tell the difference between a cup of black coffee and a cup of black tea by smell alone.
If not, there’s a problem.
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### Author:  [@Limbo\_Donni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limbo_Donni)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/6 "2004-12-11T18:09:46Z")
So are you saying it’s always a temporary condition, just a symptom of some other ailment, not to be diagnosed and analyzed and treated?
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/7 "2004-12-11T18:49:27Z")
> [@Limbo Donni](#):
>
> So are you saying it’s always a temporary condition, just a symptom of some other ailment, not to be diagnosed and analyzed and treated?
Not necessarily. Here’s a nice friendly link on the subject of [Anosmia](http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/staff/jacob/Anosmia/anosmia.html), or lack of the ability to smell.
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### Author:  [@Assuming\_facts\_not\_in\_evidence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Assuming_facts_not_in_evidence)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-for-losing-your-sense-of-smell/279197/8 "2004-12-11T20:43:16Z")
The answer to the OP is Yes, there is a test.
That last link lead to this quote
> [@](#):
>
> In the early 1980s, DOT et AL., developed the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSET) ( [Smell Test Site](http://www.smelltest.com/) ) . Currently, this is the most favoured sensory test in the U.S. (Jafek et AL, 2000). It involves identifying forty microencapulated odours from a four-choice, forced-choice selection of possible odours and is available commercially (Archer, 2000, Jafek et AL, 2000). As a test, it meets all essential criteria needed because it is both practical and clinical (Doty, 1997). It is also very popular because it can be self-administered, lasting ten to fifteen minutes and then scored by non-medical personnel within a minute (Doty, 1997). To assess the type of dysfunction, an individual’s score is compared with data from a control of the same age and gender. As a general rule a normal score is between 30-40 (with some age considerations), whilst a hyposmic scores in the 20s and an anosmic falls close to 10 (Jafek et AL, 2000). It is widely believed that this is a reliable method of diagnosing olfactory disorders. Assessing the reliability of some tests will be discussed in a later chapter. The UPSIT test has proven both reliable and reproducible as a simple clinical test of olfaction (Golding-Wood et al., 1996).
It would seem you can get the test and have it scored without seeing a doctor, if you are inclined to self-testing. But at that site they only sell the tests in boxes of 7. Maybe a pharmacist (or perhaps a nurse at school or work, etc.) could get you just one, or another similar one. You might also need the [answer book](http://216.229.16.70/ecommerce/stores/sensonics/Browse_Item_Details.asp?HSD=1&Item_ID=8) to score and interpret the test, if that isn’t included.
Of course, buying 7 would make a marvelous center for a theme party if you have six hypochondriac friends 😉