Cacogeusia: Characteristics And Causes Of This Taste Alteration
Sometimes, for various reasons, our senses do not work as they should, and the sense of taste is no exception.
This time we are going to discover what cacogeusia consists of. , an alteration of this sense that presents a peculiar symptomatology. We will also see how it can arise and how it disappears.
Cacogeusia is a dysfunction in the sense of taste in which all flavors are perceived as unpleasant while the effect of this alteration lasts. People who suffer from this disorder describe the flavors perceived as bitter or metallic. Logically, to be able to speak of cacogeusia, the patient must perceive this bad taste in the face of all stimuli and not only those that have an unpleasant taste in themselves.
When you suffer from cacogeusia, the perception of an unpleasant taste is a subjective matter for the person, It has nothing to do with the food you are eating or oral hygiene. That is to say, the problem would be in the processing of the data that is being received, since internally they would be perceived as very repulsive flavors when in reality they would not be, or would not have to be.
As for the duration of this alteration, it depends on the causes and the individual, but according to the different cases that have been analyzed, it is considered that the effects of cacogeusia could last from just 1 hour, to cases of even 14 days, disappearing spontaneously in most cases.
Possible causes
Cacogeusia is not the only alteration of the sense of taste that we can suffer. There are others, such as dysgeusia, which consists of perceiving a different flavor than what the stimulus should provide, without it necessarily being unpleasant.
We would also find hypogeusia, which refers to the decrease in the ability to perceive flavors, or ageusia, which would be the complete loss of said capacity, so in that case the person would lack a sense of taste.
For both cacogeusia and the rest of these taste dysfunctions, there may be a series of very varied causes. Let’s discover some of the most frequent ones.
1. Food intake
One of the ways in which cacogeusia can be generated would be through certain foods that would especially affect the patient due to the characteristics of his or her body. For example, people who suffer from neoplasia could be more predisposed to suffer a change in their sense of taste through salty or bitter foods.
Other studies suggest that elderly people could also see their perception of flavors altered by consuming very hot foods that contain fat, or even by the fact that they have been stored in airtight containers.
2. Toxic consumption
Other substances that could modify our ability to detect flavors would be different toxic elements, such as alcohol, tobacco and chemical drugs. All of these substances could affect the way our brain analyzes the information coming from the taste buds, giving rise to biased interpretations of the flavors captured.
3. Neurological damage
Cacogeusia can also be acquired through a neurological injury, which could have a very diverse origin, from a brain tumor, an infection that affects the tissues of the nervous system, or a cerebrovascular accident, such as a stroke, to a degenerative disease. that is destroying neural networks involved in the detection or processing of taste sensations.
4. Hormonal changes
Homones have very powerful effects on our body. and some processes such as pregnancy or some diseases such as hypothyroidism or diabetes, can trigger endocrinological instability that affects multiple aspects of our metabolism, some of which could affect taste and therefore cause dysfunction such as cacogeusia.
5. Infections
Another way in which an individual’s body can suffer an alteration that disrupts the way it analyzes the taste of food could be through a bacterial infection, for example, that causes Helicobacter pylori.
This infection could affect some of the points involved in the sense of taste, from the reception of data to its analysis, making the perception different from what it should be under normal conditions.
The cacogeusia It does not necessarily have to be caused by a physical factor, but it can also come from a psychological ailment. This is the case of disorders as common as anxiety or depression, which could generate, in certain cases, alterations in flavor perception.
7. Oral conditions
Logically, since the mouth is the route of entry for food and where the tongue is located with its taste buds, the taste receptors, it is logical to suggest that a condition in this entire area could also generate problems in correctly tasting the elements. swallowed.
These causes can be very diverse, from a burn or trauma to the mouth and/or tongue, wearing dentures, inflammatory processes caused by an infection such as glossitis, or some medical treatments that involve radiotherapy or nuclear medicine.
Some autoimmune diseases, such as Sjögren’s syndrome, in which saliva stops secreting (among other symptoms), can also be a cause of the appearance of cacogeusia or another taste disorder.
8. Nutritional deficiencies
It is also possible to contract taste disorders due to deficiencies of certain nutrients or diseases that cause this effect. For example, ailments that affect the liver or kidneys could lead to difficulty detecting flavors.
Likewise, a lack of zinc or some vitamins, essential for the proper functioning of the body, could also cause one of those taste deficiencies, such as cacogeusia.
9. Use of drugs
And finally, in the list of possible causes for the generation of anomalies of the sense of taste, we would find the use of certain pharmacological compounds, of a very diverse nature. In this sense, They could affect, for example, anti-depression medications, also muscle relaxants, those with a diuretic effect or calcium channel blockers.
Also included in this list are those drugs whose effect is to inhibit the enzyme that converts angiotensin, drugs against alcoholism, such as disulfiram, antidiabetics such as metformin, compounds to treat allergies, such as loratadine, or those designed to eliminate parasites, such as metronidazole.
Pine mouth syndrome
Within the casuistry of cacogeusia, the most popular case is that of the so-called pine mouth syndrome. In this case, the alteration of the sense of taste would be caused by a very specific food: pine nuts. Hence the nomenclature that this pathology takes. Some subjects have developed it by eating dishes that include pine nuts among their ingredients, such as, for example, pesto sauce.
People who are affected by pine mouth syndrome report that, after eating pine nuts, usually the next day or two after eating, they begin to notice a constant bitterness in the mouth and a metallic taste. When eating other foods, this sensation is accentuated, with the consequent displeasure of the person who suffers from it.
Thus It is not unusual that one of the associated effects is that the feeling of appetite decreases. since any food automatically becomes repulsive because it is associated with a sensation of bad taste, no matter how good the food is, objectively.
Pine mouth syndrome is a cacogeusia of uncertain origin. That is, it is known that it is caused by the consumption of pine nuts in certain people and circumstances, but it does not behave like other types of food allergies, since its effects are different and very specific, affecting only the perception of flavor.
The good part is that the effects subside spontaneously. , which can last from a few days to a maximum of two weeks depending on the cases that have been documented. Pine mouth syndrome can develop as early as three years of age, and it can also disappear at any time in life and never recur.
Conclusion
After a general overview of the characteristics of cacogeusia and the great variety of possible causes by which one can suffer from this ailment, we have learned of a specific case of this pathology, the so-called pine mouth syndrome, whose characteristics are even more peculiar, if possible. What is clear is that it is a disorder about which there is still a lot of research to be done to understand it in depth.
