A new study reveals that losing the sense of smell, one of the symptoms of Covid-19.
U.S. researchers found a link between olfactory loss, known as anosmia, and decreased sexual motivation and emotional satisfaction in older U.S. adults.
Experts say the sense of smell plays a “very strong role” in sexual motivation, and that the two are “closely related.”
The researchers only examined adults 65 years of age or older, so the bond could only become stronger as we grow older and may be less pronounced in young adults.
Despite this, researchers say clinicians should address potentially treatable causes of sensory loss to improve their quality of life, that is, their sex life.
Covid-19’s loss of smell does not appear to be permanent, scientists say, but it may be an early symptom of the disease. Researchers say odor loss as a whole is related to decreased sexual motivation
As we grow older, our sensory functions steadily decline, with various impacts for older adults.
Previous research has already suggested that patients with olfactory disorder complain of impairments in their sex life.
For more information, the researchers investigated the effect of loss of olfactory function or sense of smell on the sexual desire and satisfaction of older people.
The team, which also included an expert from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, worked with a sample of 2,084 older adults in the U.S., all 65 years of age or older.
The adults, described as a “nationally representative sample,” were recruited from the National Project on Social Life, Health, and Aging, a longitudinal, population-based study of social and health factors.
Experts measured their olfactory sensitivity with olfactory palettes and their frequency of sexual thoughts and activities using a questionnaire, as well as satisfaction with their most recent sexual intercourse.
“Decreased olfactory function in older adults in the United States was associated with decreased sexual motivation and lower emotional satisfaction with sex, but not a decrease in the frequency of sexual activity or physical pleasure.” say the researchers.
However, a decrease in olfactory sensitivity did not indicate a decrease in the frequency of sexual activity or a decrease in physical pleasure.
Analyzes were adjusted for age, gender, race, education, cognition, comorbidities, and depression, but the team was unable to determine causation, i.e., it is not known whether odor loss causes decreased sexual desire. or vice versa.
The researchers only examined adults 65 years of age or older, which means that the link between loss of smell and low sexual desire can only become stronger as we grow older and may be less pronounced in young adults.
“Our research shows that a decrease in olfactory function can affect sexual pleasure in older adults,” said study author Jesse K. Siegel at the University of Chicago.
“Therefore, doctors need to address the treatable causes of sensory loss to improve sexual health.”
Experts say this could be due to “evolutionarily conserved” neurological links between smell and sexuality.
“Olfaction has a strong connection preserved by evolution with the limbic system, which plays a critical role in the processing of emotions and sexual motivation,” say Siegel and his team in their article, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
“Olfactory bulb neurons are also projected directly into the hypothalamus, another key mediator of sexual motivation.”
The study’s author, Dr. Jayant Pinto, also of the University of Chicago, told MailOnline that the olfactory system is connected to brain centers that allow for the experience of pleasure.
“These connections are old, as lower organisms need to detect chemicals in the environment [such as] nutrients to feed, toxins to avoid, ”he said.
“Because sexuality is essential for reproduction, this also depends on sensory input.
Thus, the associations we find may be signs that these two ancient parts of the physiology of our nervous system are connected.
“The benefit would be more efficient mating and more offspring, in an evolutionary sense.”
The study was conducted before covid, so it is also not known how olfactory loss in people with covid is specifically related to sexual desire.
The three most common symptoms of Covid-19 are high temperature, a new, continuous cough, and a loss or change in smell or taste.
Public Health England also lists fewer less common symptoms such as aches and pains, headaches and rashes.
In general, loss of consciousness “can return to normal within a few weeks or months,” according to the NHS, and treatment with steroid sprays or nasal drops can help people with sinusitis or nasal polyps.
However, people who have lost their sense of smell specifically because of Covid may not regain it two months later, a January study suggested.
A study last July also found that one in ten people who lose their sense of taste and smell with coronavirus may not recover in a month.