One of the telltale symptoms of coronavirus infection is a nightmare for wine lovers: loss of smell and taste; researchers are studying why it happens and if it can be cured. Shawn Zylberberg, writing in the Wine Spectator, reports that: “When Dr. Christian Squillante traveled to South Africa in February 2020, he enjoyed safari rides and explored the local wine regions. But halfway into the trip, the Minneapolis-based oncologist developed a fever and severe fatigue that lasted two days. He recovered quickly and didn’t give it much thought until two weeks later, when he opened a bottle of Chenin Blanc he had brought back from his trip and found it tasted like water.”
“I was having a friend over for one of our weekly wine nights and suddenly noticed that I couldn’t taste anything,” Squillante told Wine Spectator via email. “My loss of smell came on almost instantly.” Nearly a year later, Squillante says his senses of taste and smell still haven’t fully returned, and most flavors are “muted.” Zylberberg goes on the relate that: “Pro golfer Greg Normanhad a similar experience in December 2020, when he believes he contracted COVID-19 at a PGA Tour event in Orlando, Fla. Norman says he lost his sense of taste and smell about a week after the event. I was experiencing other symptoms first, like bad back pain, joint aches and fever, and I noticed the roof of my mouth was very ‘pasty,’” Norman told Wine Spectator via email. “My senses have returned, but only in the past few days.”
The article goes on to report that: “Dr. Felicia Chow is a neuroinfectious disease specialist at the University of California at San Francisco and has seen numerous patients suffering from lost sense of taste and smell. According to Chow, the nose contains multiple types of cells, including neurons that sense different odors and transmit signals to the brain, as well as supporting cells along the nasal epithelium. “It seems like the virus in the nose itself is not infecting the actual smell neurons or the nerve cells that help us to smell, but rather the supporting cells,” Chow told Wine Spectator. “Those supporting cells play an important role, and when those are infected it seems to impair our sense of smell.” Time, she believes, is the key to recovery. “What we find is that sometimes as cells figure things out, there are signals that direct them to the right place,” Chow said. “Over time it could correct itself.”
Here at Skolnik Industries, we know that you will please your senses with our stainless steel wine barrels. Note that our stainless steel wine barrels are reusable, easy to clean, and recyclable at the end of their service life.
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