Patients in Norfolk are taking part in a project to see whether vitamin A could help people regain their sense of smell after viral infections including Covid-19.

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Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and James Paget University Hospital (JPUH) hope the study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), could one day help improve the lives of millions around the world by returning their fifth sense.

Eastern Daily Press: Smell loss expert Prof Carl Philpott from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Trust.Smell loss expert Prof Carl Philpott from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Trust. (Image: Archant)

Smell loss expert professor Carl Philpott, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The huge rise in smell loss caused by Covid-19 has created an unprecedented worldwide demand for treatment.

“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, smell loss was thought to affect an estimated five per cent of people, with viruses accounting for one in 10 of those."

He said previous research had shown the impact of smell loss included depression, anxiety and isolation, as well as risk of danger from hazards such as gas and spoiled food and changes in weight due to reduced appetite.

Eastern Daily Press: One in 10 people who experience smell loss as a result of Covid report that their sense of smell has not returned to normal four weeks after falling ill.One in 10 people who experience smell loss as a result of Covid report that their sense of smell has not returned to normal four weeks after falling ill. (Image: Getty Images)

A recent study from Germany has shown that people treated with vitamin A nasal drops improved twice as much as those in the untreated group.

“We want to find out whether there is an increase in the size and activity of damaged smell pathways in patients’ brains when they are treated with vitamin A nasal drops,” said Prof Philpott.

“This would show recovery of the damage caused by common viral infections, including Covid-19, in the nose.”

Eastern Daily Press: Prof Carl Philpott who runs the smell and taste clinic at the Norwich Medical School at the UEA.Prof Carl Philpott who runs the smell and taste clinic at the Norwich Medical School at the UEA. (Image: Archant Norfolk 2016)

The research team will work with patients referred to the Smell and Taste Clinic at JPUH by their GP after losing smell due to a viral infection.

They will either receive a 12-week course of nasal vitamin A drops or inactive equivalent drops and have their brains scanned before and after the treatment.

Prof Philpott said: “The patients will be smelling distinctive odours - roses and rotten eggs - while special MRI brain scans are taken.

Eastern Daily Press: Researchers will work with smell loss patients referred to the James Paget Hospital at Gorleston.Researchers will work with smell loss patients referred to the James Paget Hospital at Gorleston. (Image: Archant 2021)

“We will look for changes in the size of the olfactory bulb - an area above the nose where the smell nerves join together and connect to the brain.

“We will also look at activity in areas of the brain linked to recognising smells."