Woman regains a nose for smells

A woman from Norfolk has described the ability to smell and taste again for the first time in 37 years as a "miracle".

June Blythe, 65, from Taverham, lost her ability to smell and taste during her second pregnancy. She said suffering from anosmia - the inability to detect odours - "deprived" her from the full experience of raising her new-born daughter.

She was treated at England's only smell and taste clinic, based at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.

Consultant surgeon Carl Philpott said: "Smell is the sense that we most take for granted but when lost it has a profound impact on patients."

Anosmia patients can also lose their sense of taste and be unaware of hazards like smoke and gas. Smell also plays a major role in memory, mood and emotion.