People prone to migraines would be more likely to do osmophobia, that is to say to be hypersensitive to smells.
- All of those with a migraine subtype reported being hypersensitive to odors.
- Patients with episodic tension headaches and cluster headaches did not experience such symptoms.
- Osmophobia leads to an alteration in the perception of an existing odor.
Migraines are very disabling for patients. They are nearly one in two (42%) to believe that they ruin their lives. A new study, conducted by Italian researchers from the Aldo Moro University in Bari and published on September 18 in the Journal of Headache and Painfound that migraine sufferers are more likely to have osmophobia, that is, to be hypersensitive to smells.
More anxiety and depressive symptoms
Researchers conducted an observational study of the prevalence of this disorder in over 1,000 patients aged 18 to 65 diagnosed with chronic migraine. Not all participants suffered from the same type of migraines. Some were diagnosed with tension headaches, others with a migraine with or without aura when the latter had a cluster headache. Everyone had to estimate their tolerance to odors according to the headaches: if the patient was hypersensitive to them in 20% of their headaches, they were considered osmophobic.
Of all these patients, 37.9% reported osmophobia. In detail, all those who had a migraine subtype reported being hypersensitive to odors, while patients with episodic tension headaches and cluster headaches did not experience such symptoms. On the other hand, participants with headaches with osmophobia reported suffering during their headache attacks of longer duration. Added to this are more severe anxiety and more depressive symptoms.
Osmophobia, an olfactory illusion
Osmophobia is a parosmia, that is to say an olfactory illusion. This smell disorder refers to the fear of odors and leads to an alteration in the perception of an existing odor. This is then increased tenfold, making the patient hypersensitive.
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