Question

Think about olfaction as an assessment technique.
Give two or three additional examples of data you
might collect through the use of smell.

You are caring for a woman who has no hair on her
head. How might you determine the cause of her hair
loss? What other assessments should you perform?

Answer 1

Olfactory disorders frequently occur in rhinological disease. Different subjective and objective test methods are available to assess the sense of olfaction. Among the subjective methods, screening tests and threshold measurements are commonly used to quantify hyposmia or anosmia. Qualitative methods are available using discrimination and identification tests. Objective methods are used in research and in some medicolegal situations.

Olfaction is an assessment technique .Also it is used as The sense of smell may be important as an arousal system that calls attention to significant environmental events, air quality, and food. Humans share with animals an ability to store odor memories. The consequences of these memories include odor preferences and food aversions. Olfactory pheromones involved in sexual behavior have been observed in animals, but their existence in humans has not been proved.

Hair loss - Hair loss" is a common clinical complaint that is a manifestation of a wide variety of disorders. Although the cause of hair loss is easily diagnosed in some cases, such as in patients who present with classic male pattern hair loss or patchy hair loss due to alopecia areata, the diagnosis of hair loss also can be challenging.

Assessment of hairloss by taking history from the patient is the first step. Which include previous history of any diseases or treatment such as chemotherapy. Also assess the condition of skin which may also cause alopacia.