Badanie zaburzeń smaku u pacjentów leczonych z powodu schorzeń kardiologicznych

Agata Pytlakowska¹, Arkadiusz Sękiewicz¹, *Monika Borakowska-Siennicka²

Summary
Introduction: Many drugs and disorders affect patients’ perception of taste, to which doctors often do not pay sufficient attention. Disorders of this sort not only affect the enjoyment derived from eating, but also patients’ general mental state and their motivation for treatment implementation.
Aim: Evaluation of the influence of cardiovascular diseases and the applied drug therapy on the quantitative and qualitative abnormalities of taste perception.
Material and methods: The study included a medical interview and a questionnaire on taste. Taste sensitivity was examined by applying, on the tip of the tongue, on the side surfaces and at the base, well-defined, freshly prepared, four solutions of increasing concentration: glucose 5, 10, 15%, sodium chloride 2.5, 7.5, 15%, citric acid 1, 5, 10%, metronidazole 0.1, 0.25, 0.5% and, after closing the oral cavity, taste sensations were evaluated in the whole oral cavity.
Results: In the questionnaire, a small percentage of patients stated that they had suffered from taste disorder since the beginning of the therapy. Gustometry examination showed that, most frequently, an increased taste excitability threshold applies to the sweet taste, as much as in half of the patients. The above-mentioned disorder concerns other flavours as well, but to a lesser extent. In some patients, we observed particular taste sensation in other areas of tongue, than it is accepted in the literature. Approximately half of the respondents had qualitative taste sensation disorders.
Conclusions: Cardiovascular diseases and the applied drug therapy have an impact on taste perception, often without the patient being aware of the existing disorder.

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