Hyposmia
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hyposmia
[hī′päz·mē·ə] (medicine)
Decreased olfactory sensitivity.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Hyposmia
reduction of the sense of smell. Hyposmia may be effective for all odors or for just some, and it may be two-sided or one-sided. Hyposmia occurs with the impairment of nasal breathing, acute or chronic inflammations of the mucous membranes of the nasal cavity (due to the common cold), diseases of the peripheral part of the olfactory nerve, and afflictions of the olfactory center. Diagnosis is made by means of elementary odor tests or an olfactometer, a device that measures the keenness of the sense of smell. Therapy is ordinarily directed to elimination of the factor that has caused the hyposmia.
L. E. MANEVICH
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.