Litigation

Drug found effective in treating cases of partial losss of smell

By Michael Kaplen

Anosmia is the inability to perceive smells and is a frequent complication following a head injury. The condition can be either temporary or permanent.

Although the sense of smell is controlled by the olfactory nerve, this nerve is seldom tested as part of the standard neurological examination and frequently victims of head trauma do not associate their loss with the trauma producing event. In our brain injury legal practice, we have encountered several individuals who lost their sense of smell following skull fractures, yet many months went by before their complaints were addressed by medical personnel. 

A drug once used to treat asthma and other respiratory conditions shows promise in restoring a sense of smell according to a study that appears in the June issue of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences.

The drug, theophylline has shown promising results in patients that have sustained a partial loss of smell but has not shown good results in those with a total loss.

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on July 11, 2009 (boomark / email).