Anosmia, also known as smell blindness, is the loss of the ability to detect one or

more smells.[1][2] Anosmia may be temporary or permanent. It differs from hyposmia

which is a decreased sensitivity to some or all smells.[2]

Anosmia can be due to a number of factors, including an inflammation of the nasal

mucosa, blockage of nasal passages or a destruction of one temporal lobe.
Inflammation is due to chronic mucosa changes in the lining of the paranasal sinus
and in the middle and superior turbinates.

When anosmia is caused by inflammatory changes in the nasal passageways, it is

treated simply by reducing inflammation.[3] It can be caused by chronic meningitis
and neurosyphilis that would increase intracranial pressure over a long period of
time,[4] and in some cases by ciliopathy,[5] including ciliopathy due to primary
ciliary dyskinesia.[6]

The term derives from the New Latin anosmia, based on Ancient Greek ἀν- (an-) +
ὀσμή (osmḗ, "smell"; another related term, hyperosmia, refers to an increased
ability to smell). Some people may be anosmic for one particular odor, a condition
known as "specific anosmia". The absence of the sense of smell from birth is known
as congenital anosmia.