what does it mean when you lose your sence of smell?

Question: what does it mean when you lose your sence of smell?
- Keywords:
  lost,
  sense,
  smell
Asked by roxanneleask to Cathal, Daphne, Darren, Jon, Katherine on 14 Mar 2012.
- Katherine Haxton answered on 14 Mar 2012:
  
  If you can’t smell, you can’t really taste food either. Most of taste is due to smelling chemicals in your food that reach the olfactory (smell) cells in your nose
  There are various reasons why people lose their sense of smell, temporary stuff like blocked noses or a day in the lab with a really stinky chemical, or longer term if the inside of the nose gets damaged in some way.

Question: what does it mean when you lose your sence of smell?