What Causes Dysgeusia?

Side Effect Of Cancer Treatment

It's also possible for an individual' case of dysgeusia to be a side effect of cancer treatment, which is a cause that's easier to identify than others. If patients have recently been receiving treatments like radiation and chemotherapy, the effects of these may have brought about the strange tastes they're experiencing. However, these cancer treatments don't always cause dysgeusia. The condition is more likely to develop when the cancer treatments are largely centered around cancers within the neck or head. Because of how potent these cancer treatments are, they can directly interfere with a patient's overall ability to smell or taste food, which can occur on either a temporary or permanent basis. Not being able to smell or taste food properly can cause individuals to stop eating as much as they should, which could worsen the symptoms they're experiencing.

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Dry Mouth

Dry mouth occurs when the salivary glands don't produce the right amount of saliva to keep an individual's mouth wet like they are supposed to. The presence of dry mouth is known to be a factor in dysgeusia, since saliva plays a key role in the tastes individual's experience when they consume food and drinks. This condition itself can result from simple aging problems, medications, or cancer treatments. There are also a few rare conditions that can adversely affect the salivary glands in general, which would lead to lower production of saliva. Saliva is important for a variety of factors. Along with enhancing how individuals taste food, saliva helps with the prevention of bacteria while also washing away some of the leftover food particles in the mouth. If patients leave this condition untreated, their case of dysgeusia will worsen alongside the other symptoms they're currently experiencing.

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