Losing your sense of smell – one of the symptoms of Covid-19 – can put you out of sex, a new study shows.
U.S. researchers have found a link between loss of smell, known as anosmia, and decreased sexual motivation and emotional satisfaction in older adults in the United States.
Experts say the sense of smell plays a “strong unique role” in sexual motivation – and that the two are “closely linked”.
The researchers looked only at adults aged 65 and over, which means that the connection could only become stronger as we get older and may be less pronounced in young adults.
Despite this, researchers say the potentially treatable causes of sensory loss should be addressed by doctors to “improve the quality of life” – in other words, their sex life.
The loss of odor from Covid-19 does not appear to be permanent, scientists say, but it may be an early symptom of the disease. Researchers say that overall odor loss is related to decreased sexual motivation
As we age, our sensory functions steadily decline, with various effects on older adults.
Previous research has already suggested that patients with odor disorders complain of disorders in their sex life.
To find out more, the researchers investigated the effect of loss of olfactory function or sense of smell on the sexual desire and satisfaction of the elderly.
The team, which also included an expert from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, worked with a sample of 2,084 older adults in the United States, all 65 years of age or older.
Adults, described as a “nationally representative sample,” were recruited from the National Project for Social Life, Health, and Aging, a continuous, population-based, longitudinal study of health and social factors.
The experts measured their olfactory sensitivity with smelling sticks and the frequency of sexual thoughts and sexual activity through a questionnaire, as well as satisfaction with the most recent sexual relationship.
“Decreased olfactory function in older adults in the United States has been associated with decreased sexual motivation and less emotional satisfaction with sex, but not with decreased frequency of sexual activity or physical pleasure,” say the researchers.
However, a decrease in odor sensitivity did not indicate a decrease in the frequency of sexual activity or a decrease in physical pleasure.
The tests were adjusted for age, gender, race, education, cognition, comorbidities and depression – but the team could not determine the causality, which means that it is not known whether the loss of smell causes a decrease in sexual desire or vice versa.
The researchers looked only at adults aged 65 and over – meaning that the link between odor loss and decreased sexual desire may become stronger as we age and may be less pronounced in young adults.
“Our research shows that a decrease in olfactory function can affect sexual pleasure in older adults,” said study author Jesse K. Siegel of the University of Chicago.
Therefore, treatable causes of sensory loss should be addressed by physicians to improve sexual health.
Experts say this could be due to the “evolutionarily preserved” neurological links between smell and sexuality.
“Smell has a strong connection, preserved by evolution, with the limbic system, which plays a critical role in processing emotions and sexual motivation,” say Siegel and her team in their paper, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Olfactory neurons also project directly to the hypothalamus, another key mediator of sexual motivation.
The study’s author, Dr. Jayant Pinto, also at the University of Chicago, told MailOnline that the olfactory system is connected to centers in the brain that allow for the experience of pleasure.
“These connections are old in the sense that lower organisms need to detect chemicals in the environment [such as] nutrients to eat, toxins to avoid, ‘he said.
“Because sexuality is essential for reproduction, it also depends on sensory input.
“Thus, the associations we find may be signs that these two old parts of the physiology of our nervous system are connected.
“The benefit would be a more efficient and evolutionary pairing.”
The study was conducted before Covid, which also means that it is not known how odor loss in people with Covid is specifically related to sexual desire.
The three most common symptoms of Covid-19 are a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste.
Public Health England also lists fewer uncommon symptoms, including pain, headaches and rashes.
In general, loss of consciousness “can return to normal in a few weeks or months”, according to the NHS, and treatment with steroid nasal sprays or drops could help people with sinusitis or nasal polyps.
However, people who have lost their sense of smell especially because of Covid may not regain it two months later, a January study suggested.
A study in July last year also found that one in ten people who lose their sense of taste and smell with coronavirus may not regain it within a month.