Active clinical trials for "Taste Disorders"

This randomized controlled trial aims to investigate hypoglossal acupuncture in comparison to sham acupuncture and standard medical treatment (dietary recommendations) in the treatment of dysgeusia in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer who receive radiation therapy with and without chemotherapy develop altered sense of taste due to treatment effect, which typically arises in the second week of radiation therapy and progresses throughout the course of treatment. While some symptoms such as pain, mucositis, and xerostomia can be managed with pain medications and saliva replacements, taste alteration has an earlier onset and is a more difficult symptom to readily address and intervene upon. There are no effective established interventions for taste, although this is a major issue in the patient experience. The investigator will be examining they hypothesis that a miracle fruit cube would yield the greatest benefit to improve taste dysfunction in the beginning half of radiation treatment when taste function is decreased but not absent.

Metallic taste in head and neck cancer is widely under-estimated in the literature. Its causes are multiple and poorly defined. Though it has a strong impact on the nutritional status. The main objective of the TORCAD project is to test the hypothesis that intraoral lipoperoxidation is associated to metallic taste onset before, during and after treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC). The secondary goals are to evaluate the involvement of others physiopathological factors in metallic taste: (i) additional chemical modification in the saliva; (ii) release of inhibition of the facial nerve on the glossopharyngeal nerve; presence of an intraoral electric current; food pleasantness and acceptability; quality of life.

During conditioning with chemotherapy and radiotherapy for the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCT), oral changes, such as mucositis, xerostomia infections and dysgeusia may occur. Low level laser therapy is used to minimize the intensity of the lesions, prevent ulcerations in the mucosa, and diminish the time of healing. To verify the efficacy of low level laser therapy in the prevention of dysgeusia in patients undergoing allogenic HSCT and detect the frequency of dysgeusia, the flavors most changed, and the association of these changes with the clinical conditions of the patient. The study sample will be composed of 80 patients selected at the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center of the "Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein". The patients will be randomized and distributed into two groups: Placebo Group (n=40) - submitted to the routine laser therapy protocol in addition to simulated laser irradiation on the taste papillae; Test Group (n= 40) - submitted to the same laser therapy protocol as that of the Placebo Group, however, laser irradiation on the taste papillae will be effective. Daily intraoral exam will be performed in all the patients to evaluate mucositis, xerostomia and depapillation. The taste acuity test will determine the function of taste, using samples with the four basic flavors. This will be performed on the first day of conditioning (T0), during the stage of neutropenia (T1), at the time of discharge after transplantation (T2) and 100 days after transplantation (T3). A questionnaire will also be applied to evaluate the impact of changes in taste, smell and xerostomia on the quality of life. Our hypothesis is that the laser irradiation on the lingual papillae would help to prevent the changes in the cells of the taste papillae, preserving their morphology and function, which may attenuate the change in sense of taste and have a positive impact on the quality of life of patients during transplantation.

To investigate delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol's (THC) ability to increase food intake and improve food enjoyment for advanced cancer patients with taste and/or smell (chemosensory) abnormalities.

Common side effects of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) include disruptions in taste and smell function, which may persist for prolonged periods of time following recovery and resolution of COVID-19 infection. These disruptions not only reduce the hedonic pleasure derived from eating, but may also be detrimental to quality of life and could pose additional health risks (malnutrition) among patients with chronic illness or those enduring long-term complications from their previous COVID-19 infection. Previous studies conducted among patients with cancer experiencing taste and smell abnormalities have indicated improvement in taste and smell function following daily lactoferrin supplementation. Lactoferrin is a natural transferrin protein that scavenges and chelates iron byproducts produced as a function of lipid oxidation in the oral cavity following inflammation, infection, or toxicity of chemosensory tissues. The purpose of this pilot investigation is to assess the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of lactoferrin supplementation (750mg per day for 30 days) for the treatment of taste and smell disturbances following COVID-19 infection. Approximately 40 patients who experienced disruptions in taste and smell following infection with COVID-19 will be recruited. Participants will complete baseline assessments (questionnaires, blood draw) and will be given 90 lactoferrin tablets (provided by Jarrow Formulas) in order to take 3 tablets per day for 30 days.

Personalized nutrition is one of the most up to date trends in human nutrition and gains much interest of general public and scientists as well. Although we have gained some knowledge on gene-trait associations, the real effectiveness and usefulness of genotype-based nutritional recommendations is unknown. Many personalized nutrition companies are on the market today, some of them use personalized nutrition based on genotype analysis. For this reason, scientific basis of this approach should be clarified. Our project can thus increase knowledge which can be applied in dietary counseling practice. Although we focus on increase vegetable and fruits intake, the study is designed as a proof of concept.

Patients taking chemotherapeutic agents often do not comply well with their dosing regiment since many of these medications cause a metallic taste in the mouth. The primary intent is to determine the effectiveness of the oral rinse in reducing the metallic taste in the mouth associated with various chemotherapeutic agents. This clinical study a randomized, double-blind, single-treatment, parallel design with a placebo as the control. The duration of the trial will be 1 month.

post covid-19 smell and taste dysfunction are common globally and affect the quality of life and also have phycological impact and anxiety, also affect on economy as the patients not able to do cooking or buy prepared foods and not eaten, also not able to enter the cooking room and prepare foods for themselves, also the risk of loss of smell the fire accidents because anosmia, many forms of smell dysfunction like anosmia ,hyposmia, and dysosmia ,Phantosmia , parosmia may occurred, the same taste disorders may has many forms like Dysgeusia, phantom taste perception, hypogeusia with dysgeusia. until now no definite treatments for post covid-19 smell and taste disorders , this study is novel study as quadruple therapy Intranasal Insulin, Zinc, Gabapentin, Ice Cube Stimulation may suspect having promising results

The ONCOFOOD project aims to design and develop new innovative food solutions for cancer patients, taking into account not only their nutritional requirements but also their sensory changes, promoting eating pleasure and preventing malnutrition. Research involving cancer patients but also their families and health care professionals is a key element of this approach to ensure the success of the developed products for the target group.