Smell and taste changes following a traumatic brain injury

Event Notes:

This free online event for patients and professionals is for people who are affected by smell and taste changes following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and those supporting them in a personal or professional capacity.

Our Expert speakers are Neurologist Dr Lucia Li from Imperial College London and Consultant ENT Surgeon Miss Lisha McClelland from University Hospitals Birmingham.  They will be joined by Fifth Sense volunteer Ed Shardlow.

Lucia will talk about how traumatic brain injuries affect the brain and how patients are typically managed.  Lisha will talk about how patients who present to her Smell and Taste Clinic at Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre are diagnosed and managed, including current treatment options and self-help ideas for patients.

Ed will share his personal story of traumatic brain injury, from the life-saving surgery he received following an accident on a night out to the present day. He will talk about how he felt initially on noticing that he had lost his sense of smell, how he has adapted to the impact on his quality of life, and what he has learned over almost two decades of living with the condition.

Patients and members of the public will: Learn more about the condition, current treatments and research and gain ideas and tips to help them self-manage the condition.

Health and social care professionals will: Learn more about the impact that this condition has on people’s lives. Learn more about ways of treating and managing patients with the condition.

Q&A Session: There will be an opportunity following the presentations to have questions answered by our expert speakers. Please note that Dr Lucia Li and Miss Lisha McClelland will not be able to give individual medical advice