The "Tastes of Anesthesia" Story

It was an ordinary day. Eating a bowl of potato soup that my wife made for me to help with my recovery. Have been home from the hospital for a few days and my appetite is non-existent. I called the doctor today to see if I can get any medicine to help make me eat, but the nurse explained that the anesthesia is what is causing that. It just has to work its way out of my system. Wow, anesthesia can cause so many side effects. Seems that on my first day home, Carol sliced a fresh peach for me, hoping I would be able to eat it. I tried a bite and it was soooo sweet that I just couldn't eat it. Same with the soup. It was sooooo salty that I struggled to finish more than a few spoon fulls. The anesthesia! Then I read about some research that the Monell Chemical Senses Center did that has shown that many of the taste receptors on your tongue are also present in your guts. And when the anesthesia is affecting most parts of my body, no wonder my taste buds are also being affected. The study was pretty interesting. Taste cells that specialize to detect sweetness live on the tip, back, and sides of the tongue. When you taste sugar, that activates the taste cells which send a signal to a nearby nerve that transmits a message to the brain. As you digest that same sugar, enzymes break it down into glucose and fructose as they enter the small intestine. In the intestines are some of the same taste cells that are on the tongue, so your brain gets a double dose of the message of sweetness. Then, eventually, the glucose and fructose reach your pancreas. And, even your pancreas has taste cells that send messages to your brain indicating something sweet. Wonder what else in my body the anesthesia is messing with. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.