Taste Changes after Tonsillectomy

Very rarely, patients will complain of taste changes after tonsillectomy . Such taste changes (aka dysgeusia) is most often described as metallic though other taste variations or absences may be reported. Depending on what study you look at, this complaint occurs anywhere from 0.3% to as high as 9% of tonsillectomy cases. Dysgeusia after tonsillectomy is felt to be due to a number of different causes including: 1) medication side effect 2) injury to the lingual branch of the glossop…

11/17/2012 0

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"Bitter" Taste Sense Contributes to Immune Defense

As children, we all learned about the 4 different taste qualities the human tongue can appreciate: salty, sugar, bitter, and sour. Savory or umami was added in 1985. "Calcium" has been proposed in 2008 as well as more recently, "fatty" taste. However, we are slowly learning that "taste" is much more complex than simply the ability to perceive the taste qualities associated with food. That tongue map we all memorized in elementary school? It's a lie... Rea…

10/12/2012 0

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Tongue Taste Map is a LIE!

As children, we all learned about the 4 different taste qualities the human tongue can appreciate: salty, sugar, bitter, and sour. Savory or umami was added in 1985. " Calcium " has been proposed in 2008 as well as more recently, " fatty " taste (oleogustus). Along with the 5 (and possibly more) taste qualities we all had to memorize at some point, we also had to memorize the taste map of the tongue (yes... I know umami is missing): Well... what a waste of time to memori…

3/21/2012 0

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Bitter Taste Syndrome (Pine Nut Mouth, Artichoke Effect, Pineapple Tongue, Tomato Tongue, etc)

Ever eat something or brush your teeth after which everything tastes bitter or metallic? This phenomenon is called bitter taste syndrome and often occurs after certain eating foods or after brushing the teeth. The altered taste lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Common food culprits include toothpaste, pine nuts, tomatoes, artichoke, pineapples, and certain medications. Not everybody experiences this problem which is felt to be due to misfiring of the sweet taste receptor…

6/08/2010 0

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