Study Finds That Your Sense of Smell Influences How You Breathe

In a 2011 survey, over half of 16- to 22-year-olds, when asked to choose only two items from a list, said they would rather give up their sense of smell than go without technology like their phone or laptop.

Compared to other senses, human smell often seems like an afterthought. However, researchers have discovered a surprising influence this overlooked sense has on our breathing.

A team from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel measured nasal airflow in 31 people with normal smell and 21 people with anosmia (loss of smell). They found that those with a functioning sense of smell took significantly more sniffs, adding 240 additional inhalation peaks per hour.

Promising New Insights into Anosmia Diagnosis and Its Link to Increased Mortality in Older Adults

This newly discovered behavior is more than 80% accurate in diagnosing anosmia and could shed light on why older adults with impaired smell are over three times more likely to die compared to those with a healthy olfactory system.

As seen in many who lost their sense of smell after COVID, this is no trivial symptom. Familiar scents disappear, and food loses its flavor, diminishing the pleasure of eating. More importantly, the inability to smell can prevent someone from detecting spoiled food, putting them at risk of food poisoning.

The Importance of Olfactory Detection

Since the sense of smell also alerts us to dangers like fire or gas, it’s easy to understand how regular sniffing could reduce the risk of premature death. Researchers also suggest that other, subtler physiological changes may play a role in the increased mortality risk for those who lose their sense of smell.

It’s well known that the amount of air we inhale through our noses increases when an odor’s intensity or pleasantness decreases. When faced with a strong smell, we tend to take smaller breaths through our nostrils, even while asleep.

Since odors influence our breathing, researchers questioned whether a loss of smell might be reflected in general breathing patterns.

To investigate, volunteers wore devices that precisely tracked nasal airflow as they went about daily activities like eating, talking, and sleeping, with every breath being recorded.

Although both groups took a similar number of breaths and inhaled similar volumes of air, those with a sense of smell showed an interesting double or even triple “spike” in airflow with each lung expansion.

The Importance of Olfactory Detection

It’s unclear what, if anything, this stuttered inhalation accomplishes or what harm its absence might cause in people with anosmia, who may account for over 15% of the population.

However, our brain’s functions are closely linked to respiration, influencing not only how we think and feel but also how we form memories and regulate moods.

The researchers note that “such altered respiratory patterns, especially nasal airflow patterns, may affect both physical and mental health.”

Future research with more precise airflow measurements, tests of odor detection abilities, and a broader range of participants could shed light on this difference in breathing patterns and its potential health implications.

For now, it’s worth considering that your sense of smell may play a bigger role in your well-being than you realize.

Read the original article on: Science Alert

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