A doctor has gotten a flu shot every year for 40 years — here's why he's switching to the new mRNA version

Dear Doctor Roach: My 82-year-old husband is unable to smell or taste. This has been the case since 2024, when he was hit by a car while out for a walk. He sustained a compression fracture to his spine. While he wasn’t knocked out, he did get thrown backward and sustained some trauma to his head. Since then, he’s had no sense of smell or taste. I see him drifting further and further into depression, and I believe it’s primarily because he no longer has the pleasure that is associated with taste. He has seen our general physician and an ear, nose and throat doctor. He’s been given some scented items, which he diligently used to try to reactivate his smell and taste. He also uses nasal rinses. These treatments have resulted in him occasionally tasting the first bite that he takes, then nothing. Recently, I’ve read about successful studies using stem cells to revive olfactory senses. What knowledge do you have of these studies or of any other possibilities to revive his sense of taste and smell? -- D.L.D. Answer: Loss of smell often leads to a subjective loss of taste, as smell is a very important part of tasting. People who’ve had a temporary loss of smell from a bad sinus infection may recall everything tasting bland. Loss of smell was a big issue during the first wave of COVID in 2020.

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