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Suggest Treatment For Loss Of Smell In A Cancer Remission Patient
Posted on
Sun, 5 Oct 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sun, 5 Oct 2014
Answered on
Tue, 21 Oct 2014
Last reviewed on
Question : I have a friend in cancer remission that recently developed a loss of smell. She is going in for an MRI procedure next week. Should we be alarmed the cancer will appear; or could this be a side effect from her chemotherapy? Many Blessings!
Brief Answer:
What cancer type did she have?
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
Loss of smell is not a typical sign for cancer. It could rather be caused by a damaged nerve and this has several different possible causes among which are the side effects of medications. I will not want to speculate that this is probably related to recurrence of the cancer at this time as there are several other possible explanations. The test would be able to tell us whether that is the cause and if not, other possibilities would be looked into.
However, the most common cause of permanent loss of smell is that nothing is usually found on repeated examinations and investigations.
I hope this helps. I wish your friend well. Thank you so much for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be.
What cancer type did she have?
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
Loss of smell is not a typical sign for cancer. It could rather be caused by a damaged nerve and this has several different possible causes among which are the side effects of medications. I will not want to speculate that this is probably related to recurrence of the cancer at this time as there are several other possible explanations. The test would be able to tell us whether that is the cause and if not, other possibilities would be looked into.
However, the most common cause of permanent loss of smell is that nothing is usually found on repeated examinations and investigations.
I hope this helps. I wish your friend well. Thank you so much for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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