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Psychogenic Factors in Benign Chronic Orofacial Pain
Published in Eli Ilana, Oral Psychophysiology, 2020
An extensive clinical study97 found that metallic taste was encountered by 5% of the general dental patients and was associated with bruxism and grinding. It is possible that the phenomenon of metallic taste which occurs normally in some patients and usually passes with time, develops in others to a general syndrome of AO with fixation on the symptom of galvanic currents.
Ears
Published in Marie Lyons, Arvind Singh, Your First ENT Job, 2018
Taste disturbance. The corda tympani runs very close to the eardrum, and it is often necessary to disturb it in order to place the graft. This leads to a metallic taste on the operated side of the tongue. This will settle but may take several months to do so, especially if it was necessary to divide the nerve in order to place the graft.
Environmental Toxins and Chronic Illness
Published in Aruna Bakhru, Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Methylmercury, an organic form of mercury that has been reported in many studies as a significant environmental pollutant often found in certain types of fish, accumulates in the brain, primarily in myelin sheaths, leading to demyelination. In terms of large-scale, overt methylmercury poisoning, probably the most famous case is pollution of Minamata Bay in Japan in the 1950s. Symptoms that were seen in those exposed to the polluted water in Minamata Bay primarily through ingestion of fish include ataxia, speech impairment, constriction of visual fields, hypoesthesia, dysarthria, hearing impairment, and sensory disturbances. What may be even more significant than the original occurrence is the fact 40 years after the spill and 30 years after a fishing ban was enacted symptoms of mercury neurotoxicity still persisted. Other studies, such as those performed on Amazonian children exposed to methylmercury as the result of local gold mining, demonstrated neurotoxic effects. In addition, more than 80% of the children had levels of hair mercury high enough to impact brain development. Neuropsychological testing in these children demonstrated deficits in motor function, attention, and visuospatial performance. In the United States, a study of patients in an internal medicine practice in San Francisco who ingested large fish regularly had blood levels of mercury above 5 mcg/L and demonstrated issues with fatigue, hair loss, troubled thinking, memory loss, muscle aches, and headaches. Furthermore, many of these patients reported a metallic taste in the mouth.
The Effect of Special Diets on Weight and Nutritional Intake in Hematological Cancer Patients: A Randomized Study
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2018
Sanne J. Bille, Benedicte W. Fjalstad, Mette B. Clausen, Bent J. Andreasen, Jens Rikardt Andersen
In patients with hematological cancer major weight loss and taste changes are well documented in the size of the order of a loss of 8.2 kg (11.2%) (1), and large deficits of food intake of about 80–120 kcal/day (336–520 kJ/day) (2,3). Major disturbances in taste thresholds and changes in recognition of taste may be important factors for the development of weight loss (4,5). Chemotherapy is designed to inhibit cell division in order to limit the development of cancer (6). As a consequence, cytostatic change the taste cells by degrading the quality of the taste buds and reduce the production of saliva. This may result in inflammation of the cells in the mouth, tongue, and throat (7,8). In addition, patients with altered taste receiving chemotherapy treatment may experience unbearable metallic taste in the mouth during chemotherapy but not after (9,10). Approximately 75% of cancer patients receiving the first chemotherapy treatment experience changes in taste (11). Furthermore, taste changes and dry mouth may remain after chemotherapy treatment over a three year period (12). Patients reporting taste changes after chemotherapy consume 20–25% fewer calories pr. day compared to those who do not report changes in taste (13). It has been documented that cancer patients accept umami, a little sweet, sour and salt, and no bitter during treatment of chemotherapy (5,14,15). Reduced desire for food and weight loss has a negative impact on quality of life, and provides an increased risk of infection and reduces the ability to receive the right dosage of medical treatment, which may negatively affect the chance of survival (10,16) and/or prognosis (17,18). We wanted to investigate if diets constructed in accordance with the taste changes could improve the weight development during chemotherapy in patients with malignant hematological diseases.
Individual Differences in Chemosensory Perception Amongst Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Narrative Review
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2022
Alba Ruiz-Ceamanos, Charles Spence, Jordi Navarra
As already seen, experiencing a bad taste in the mouth or a metallic taste is commonly reported by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. A possible course of action to reduce the presumed perception of an ‘excessively’ bitter, metallic or bad taste in food would perhaps involve distracting the patient’s attention from the bitter (and/or metallic/bad). Specific ingredients (e.g., wasabi, horseradish, or mustard) could perhaps be added to food preparations to draw the patient’ attention to their nose. Morevover, the use of certain seasonings may perhaps intensify other tastes and flavors (see NCI recommendations; see 37, 117, 119). Masking the bitterness by adding sweeteners (120) or salt (see 121), masking metallic taste by adding citric fruits (lemon, orange, pineapple, kiwi...) or by drinking mint or lemon tea before and after the meals seem to be good strategies to improve the patients’ experience with food, according to Fundació Alícia (117). Following-up on this idea, a pilot study by Wilken and Satiroff (122) in which dried miracle fruits were given, before food intake, to a group of patients undergoing chemotherapy treatment who were suffering from some alteration in their sense of taste is worth mentioning. The miracle fruit berry contains a protein called miraculin that binds to sweet receptors and, has the ability to temporarily modify sour taste to sweet (123). Apparently, sweet can suppress other basic tastes at medium or high intensities (see 124). With a sour taste is in mouth, miraculin induces an intense sweet taste sensation (see 125). This could probably explain why the berry-induced sweet taste improved, in the study by Wilken and Satiroff (122), the patients’ taste perception, and reduced the excessive bitterness (and metallic sensations) perceived, as measured in a questionnaire administered after food intake. That said, miracle fruit or any products derived from the fruit such as pills, do not seem to have caught on in quite the way that one would imagine, perhaps because of the long-lasting nature of the effects (c. 30 mins − 3 h).