Episode 27: When the Sense of Smell Fails

Life Lines - The Podcast of The American Physiological Society

What would it be like to live without being able to detect any odors? For one thing, Thanksgiving would be much less enjoyable, perhaps disturbingly so. In this episode, we talk to Robert I. Henkin of the Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington, D.C., who will tell us why people lose their sense of smell and how his research can help some people restore it. (Begins at: 02:03)The Buzz in Physiology features studies on a simple test that may determine arterial stiffness in adults older than 40, and a look at a 1950s program that tested the fitness of women to become astronauts. (Begins at: 00:43)