Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation
Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Study results have shown that chronic exposure to cigarette smoke affects the taste function in humans.However, neither the quantitative impact on taste sensitivity nor the time-course of taste recovery on stopping smoking have been precisely examined.Methods: The experimental design included 2 phases, (i) a case-control phase comparing the taste sensitivity level measured by Electrogustometric (EGM) thresholds from various parts of the tongue (locus) between smokers (n = 83) and non-smokers (n = 48), (ii) a follow-up study looking at the taste sensitivity recovery in smokers after smoking cessation (n = 24) and compared with non-smokers.Results: Smokers exhibited significantly lower taste sensitivity than non-smokers -the higher the nicotine dependence (Fagerström scores), the lower the taste sensitivity.After smoking cessation, EGM thresholds decreased progressively, and reached the taste sensitivity range of non-smokers depending on locus and time.After 2 weeks a recovery could be observed on the 3 Tip and the 2 edge loci; the recovery in the posterior loci was complete after 9 weeks, and in the dorsal loci recovery was observed only after 2 months or more.Conclusions: Smoking cessation does lead to a rapid recovery of taste sensitivity among smokers, with recovery time found to differ based on the sensitivity of loci of the tongue.The use of EGM could potentially be explored as a motivational tool for smoking cessation.
Source: Tobacco Induced Diseases
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,372
OpenAlex ID: W2592633296