ENT features
Sniffing out the evidence – COVID-19 and loss of sense of smell and taste
Louis Pasteur once observed: “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.” Professor Hopkins was certainly prepared when a few anecdotes of smell problems started to accumulate early in the pandemic’s course. Post-viral olfactory loss is nothing...
Running a post-COVID smell clinic
Over the past year, much of our effort as a speciality has been directed towards crisis management and keeping services afloat. Our practice has changed in untold ways, but unprecedented numbers of patients with smell disorders will increasingly require our...
Loss of smell after COVID-19: a view from the patient forums
Patient advocate, Chrissi Kelly, founder of AbScent, talks about how the pandemic has changed the way we think about smell loss. The high prevalence of chemosensory impairment as a result of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has shone a much-needed spotlight on...
Fifth Sense James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership for smell and taste disorders
Research priorities in the past have been dominated by the quixotic curiosity of individual academics and the capricious generosity of funding organisations. There must be a better way... At Fifth Sense, research is fundamental to the work we do. Above...
In conversation with Professor Valentina Parma, Head of GCCR
Smell has long been regarded as the Cinderella of the senses, oft neglected by clinicians, the research community and lay public. The Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research looks to change all that. Our roving reporter, Abigail Walker, talks to its...
Unpacking the World Health Organization’s World Report on Hearing: what does it say?
The inaugural report on hearing from the World Health Organisation is a tool for advocacy, and for getting hearing loss on government agendas. Nguyen Ngoc Bao Tran was 11 months old when her hearing loss was diagnosed. Despite being informed...
Bringing ear care and hearing services to the hardest to reach: the potential of primary healthcare workers
Can workers from the local community plug the workforce gap in providing ear and hearing care? Bringing ear and hearing care services closer to the community remains a key component of reducing the burden of ear and hearing conditions across...
Mapping the financial and disease burden of hearing loss and associated interventions
The prevalence and burden of ear and hearing disorders is huge and, historically, has been underappreciated. Globally, unaddressed hearing loss poses a growing public health challenge, requiring urgent attention from policymakers, health professionals and civil society. The recently published World...
Promoting human rights of deaf communities in low-resource settings
Stigma and misconceptions about deafness are serious impediments for many deaf people to realise rights and potential in some of the most challenging situations globally. Around 430 million people are estimated to live with moderate or higher levels of hearing...
Outreach to build capacity for surgical ear care in low-resource settings: challenges and opportunities
There are successful models for delivering complex ear surgery where resources may be more limited. Ear, nose and throat conditions are frequently overlooked when global health issues are considered, but hearing loss is the world’s most common sensory deficit, and...
Mobile technologies to support global ear and hearing care
By combining mobile technology with artificial intelligence, more people can access ear and hearing care. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that worldwide, nearly half a billion people have moderate or worse hearing loss [1]. The vast majority of people...
Using tele-audiology in Zambia’s ear and hearing care desert
Addressing the medical desert with tele-audiology and tele-education. If a ‘medical desert’ is defined as a community that lives more than 60 miles away from the nearest acute care hospital, then try to imagine an appropriate term for a situation...
