Not Smelling the Coffee?

Distortions of the senses of smell (paraosmia) and taste (dysgeusia), are common symptoms of a Covid19 infection. These senses are, of course, closely related, as much of what we claim to 'taste' is really our olfactory system responding to the shapes of molecules in our airways. Many people (e.g. an estimated 0.5m in the UK) suffer from 'long covid'. In this condition, symptoms persist a year or longer after the infection. This also seems to apply to paraosmia and dysgeusia (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/30/like-sewage-and-rotting-flesh-covids-lasting-impact-on-taste-and-smell). An unpublished study from Sweden's Karolinska Institute found that 50% of people with long covid, retained their distorted sense of smell. Some subjects were unable to eat or drink things they had formerly loved. These included items like coffee, roasts, a bacon sandwich or even water. Some found the smell of their own or their partner's bodies repulsive (damaging relationships?). The situation became, in some cases, life-threatening. Some sufferers were unable to eat normally, becoming emaciated and developing organ damage. This is serious as a) some paraosmics are not believed by people around them and/or employers and b) there is currently no cure for this condition.