Taste deterioration

[JenniferW]

My mother complains of several things not tasting good - not as good as they used to, tasting indifferent, etc. For coffee, we've experimented with changing brands and types, but get the same sort of response. As she's now saying this about an assortment of things, I'm starting to wonder if her Alzheimer's is responsible.

My mother's 90, so I'd expect some deterioration in her taste system anyway, but this is definitely over and above that. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2010, and her overall deterioration is a slower than average process, and all her symptoms are at the milder end of the scale. But she's now showing symptoms which indicate she's moved on from the mild to the moderate level of the disease. So, is it Alzheimer's that's responsible for the damage to her taste? If I can explain to her what's happening and why, it'll make it a bit easier for her (and us) in working out what we do about this, including just giving up the things which no longer taste good to her.

 

[deedee1]

My mum complains about food/drink not tasting nice or different and likes things one week and then not the next also she has started taking more sugar in her coffee than she used to, I actually thought it was mum being awkward (as she can be very) now i've read your post perhaps it is linked to her vascula dementia, hopefully someone will come along with an answer.
Dee x

 

[JenniferW]

The answer?

After posting my message yesterday I sat down and searched online for all and anything about taste deterioration - and think I can now answer my own question.

Yes - changes in the smell and taste senses is a symptom of Alzheimer's, as a result of damage in the brain (trying to simplify what I read!). I can understand that the damage is going to be different for different people and at different stages of the disease - but I don't think it's something I'd read any mention of anywhere.

When I sat talking about this with my mother, she understood that taste was partly in your nose and mouth and partly your brain processing it, and she understands that Alzheimer's is playing havoc with her brain. So although it took her time to make sense of the idea I was proposing - that it was her brain changing, not the coffee (etc) - she did let me go on to the next stage, of talking about what might have to change. And surprisingly, she didn't think giving up coffee was crazy. As she said, it tasted so awful, what would she be losing. She thought water - which still tastes the same to her - might be preferable.

I realise my sister and I, who do all her shopping, have already been making this sort of adjustment with all sorts of other things, but not really registering this consciously. But it does also explain why she almost seems to have cravings now for some things she'd never have eaten in the past.

We could do with warning about this, couldn't we!

 

[Lulabelle]

Hi Jennifer
Yes it does seem to be something which is pretty common and perhaps something which ought to be more widely advised at the point of diagnosis.
My mum seems to have completely lost what little appetite she had and I do wonder, in fact I asked her, if she felt her tastes had changed recently. She said no but then she would as she is in total denial.
Anyway, she used to make the best cup of tea in the whole world, exactly the right amount of 'steeping', the perfect amount of sugar and milk, mmmmmm. Now it is like gnat's p*** and she has about 5 sugars in it!!! Yeuch.
I don't let her make tea for me any more, sadly.
I am hoping my mum gets a bit of her appetite back but I can't say that she has changed one set of likes for another food and drink wise - she doesn't seem to like anything any more, except perhaps the dreadful tea!!!
Thank you for raising this topic.
Lulabelle

 

[CassandraDK]

Glad to hear you were able to figure it out and talk to her about it!

Just a thought - is she taking any medication that might affect taste, or might there be something with her teeth? I had a patient once who thought everything tasted horrible, and it turned out she had a very old dental filling that had broken and was giving weird taste to everything. Infections can also do that, and might not always cause symptoms.

 

[Nebiroth]

Considering that ultimately, the brain is responsible for almost everything and Alzheimer's damages the brain then I think it is possible.

It could range from damage in the area of the brain that is responsible for the sense of taste actually working to other areas that are responsible for what tastes "nice" and "nasty" since these are very subjective and why what some people like others dislike. There are certainly things that almost everyone dislikes which probably has an evolutionary root since the bad taste is associated with things like unripe fruit or things that have gone bad so it makes sense to dislike them, as it;s a motivator to avoid them. Similarly, there are things that are almost universally liked, like sweet things, because sweetness indicates a good source of energy.

But there's a spectrum of inbetweens - coffee, for example, many people like it but many don't. I dont as I find the taste awful, but clearly, lots of people like it. Like or dislike originates in the brain and in Alzheimer's the brain changes, so likes and dislikes do as well.

I do know that many with dementia will develop a distinct inclination towards sweetness.

You could try making things sweeter than before. The coffee might just taste unbearably bitter now.

 

[turmoil]

This is interesting, my Dad drank the same brand of coffee for years, then he said it did not taste the same apparantly they were trying to save money and put something in it, he said, so we picked another one when we went shopping, he complained about this one too, but he seems to like the one we get for now.

The same thing happened with tea, he hardly drinks tea now we have been through all brands and leaf tea but it has to be coffee, it always used to be tea.

My Dad would not entertain sweet things, now half the shopping trolly is full of cakes, biscuits and sweets.

Yesterday he had a shrub about 3ft tall in a bucket sat at the side of him in the room ,he found it. It stank of cat pee, I asked him if I could take it outside which I did, today the thing is back, I told him it was smelling the whole lower floor of the house out it was so overpowering, he said it was me, he could not smell anything and he was giving it life.

The sense of taste, smell and his appetite have all changed. He has Vascular Dementia and Frontal lobe Dementia.

Turmoil x

 

[FifiMo]

Another thing that can play a part too.is a lack of comprehension and/or deterioration in vocabulary. If you are handed a cup of dark brown liquid and you don't know what it is and you try to find the word that you're thinking about..ah..there's the word...gravy! Ewwwwwwwwww that tastes disgusting. I've never liked sweet gravy! Then again, that tea that you poured over the potatoes tonight was disgusting too! And on and on it goes.

One way to cope with the changes is to note how the tastes have changed. Do they now prefer sweet foods? Do they need food to be more seasoned or spicy before the taste buds react? It comes to the point where any conventions of food need to be set aside. If the way to get them to eat a ham sandwich is to sprinkle it with sugar and not mustard, then so be it! Try testing new tastes by offering a taste of things that. You are eating. Oh, and don't get complacent, today's gravy may be chocolate sauce tomorrow!

Fiona

 

[beech mount]

Interesting point about the increased need for sugar, the brain depends upon glucose
to funtion well, could it be that the brain knowing that it is being damaged
increases the intake of sugar in a attempt to cure itself? The extra need for sugar
is quite common in people with dementia.
John.

 

[turmoil]

Interesting point about the increased need for sugar, the brain depends upon glucose
to funtion well, could it be that the brain knowing that it is being damaged
increases the intake of sugar in a attempt to cure itself? The extra need for sugar
is quite common in people with dementia.
John.

That seems to make a lot of sense re my Dad, certainly answers a lot for me, thank you

Turmoil x

 

[garnuft]

Interesting point about the increased need for sugar, the brain depends upon glucose
to funtion well, could it be that the brain knowing that it is being damaged
increases the intake of sugar in a attempt to cure itself? The extra need for sugar
is quite common in people with dementia.
John.

Absolutely. It has also been scientifically recorded in children.
With a baby the dislike for bitter tastes (won't eat greens etc.) has been recorded as an evolutionary reaction to anything potentially dangerous.
Perhaps as brain cells degenerate, evolutionary skills - basic functions, kick in again.
Just thinking, not prosthelyising.

 

[deedee1]

Thanks for the explanations made a lot of things make sense, not poor old mum being awkward after all bless her.
Dee x

 

[JenniferW]

What a range of experiences!

Thank you to all of you who've said what your experiences are. It really helps to put things in perspective. Apart from her 6-monthly checks at the local memory clinic service, my mother sees no-one in the health service, so there's no one with specialist knowledge we can ask this sort of questions of, and no-one telling us this sort of thing which is affecting day-to-day life. My sister does almost all of our mother's shopping, and she's been bearing the brunt of this, having to deal with one brand of coffee after another not being any good! I'm aware that long-term, the problems could be loss of interest in all sorts of foods, so it's good to be starting to understand this when it's at an early-ish stage, and there's a better chance of my mother actually being able to understand what's happening and why, too. I go regularly to an Alzheimer's Society coffee morning for carers, and I'll bring it up there, too.