ON THE SENILE OLFACTORY SENSE

Abstract

Observation concerning the percentage of the number of the patients who were conscious of some olfactory disturbances among the patients with diseases either at nasal or paranasal cavities, and its relation to the age of the patients has led the author to conclude that very few infant as well as aged patients had the disturbances as their chief complaints. This may be explained by the fact in the cases of infant patients, their emotion and attentiveness are poorly developed, while in aged patients their number is few and conditions of the disease become worse during the long period of chronic diseases. Observation was made that 32.7% of the female patients at menopause were apparently conscious of the presence of some olfactory disturbances. The result of the olfactory test. however, was males. Moreover, the result of the olfactory test seemed to have no special correlation to climacteric symptoms. cious nervousness as well as decrease in olfactory sensation depend chiefly on the particularity of the mental condition, in other words, their complaints on olfactory disturbances are considered to be due to the mental condition aroused by such special rest before. The olfactory test undertaken in the persons from 10 to 85 years old who did not show any tivity was remarkable among the persons over 60 years old. ory center and olfactory organ of the people over 60 years old compared with those of normal adult ones were carried out. The results obtained are as follows: (1) Olfactory mucous membrane dermal cell layers lost their original shapes and sometimes disappeared. Processus lacken clearness and were swollen. In such cases the olfactory nerve fibers were swollen and sometimes were disconnected. Due to these changes decrease in stainability often caused difficulties in proving the presence of the nerve fibers. rlayers of the mucous membranes were expanded and congested, but the swelling of the walls was not so remarkable. the blood vessels were observed. In certain cases, hwever, the swelling of the peculiar membranes due to the accumulation of the secretion showed a tendency of dissolving character. (2) Olfactory center General course changes were seen, specially around the blood vssels. Regressive changes were present at the nerve cells. Pigmental atrophy was clearly observed. (3) Olfactory lobe crease of glia cells were seen. Occasionally necrotic nest were present. Blood vessels were dilated and swelling of the walls was also noticed. xylin were also present here as well as in the olfactory center. At the olfactory cord, both the multiplication of the glia cells and the necrotic change were most active. Pathohistological evidences which I believe to be useful to explain the cause of the decrease in the olfactory susceptibility of the people over 60 years old were obtained.