Because taste disorders can have detrimental effects on a patients quality of life, more research needs to be conducted concerning possible treatments such as zinc supplementation. Altering drug therapy
The effects of drug-related dysgeusia can often be reversed by stopping the patients regimen of the taste altering medication. In one case, a forty-eight-year-old woman who had hypertension was being treated with valsartan. Due to this drugs inability to treat her condition, she began taking a regimen of eprosartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist. Within three weeks, she began experiencing a metallic taste and a burning sensation in her mouth that ceased when she stopped taking the medication. When she began taking eprosartan on a second occasion, her dysgeusia returned. In a second case, a fifty-nine-year-old man was prescribed amlodipine in order to treat his hypertension. After eight years of taking the drug, he developed a loss of taste sensation and numbness in his tongue. When he ran out of his medication, he decided not to obtain a refill and stopped taking amlodipine. Following this self-removal, he reported experiencing a return of his taste sensation. Once he refilled his prescription and began taking amlodipine a second time, his taste disturbance reoccurred. These two cases suggest that there is an association between these drugs and taste disorders. This link is supported by the "de-challenge" and "re-challenge" that took place in both instances. It appears that drug-induced dysgeusia can be alleviated by reducing the drugs dose or by substituting a second drug from the same class.
Symptoms including paranoia, amnesia, cerebellar malfunction, and lethargy can also manifest when undergoing histidine treatment. Future research
Every year, more than 200,000 individuals see their physicians concerning chemosensory problems, and many more taste disturbances are never reported. Due to the large number of persons affected by taste disorders, basic and clinical research are receiving support at different institutions and chemosensory research centers across the country. These taste and smell clinics are focusing their research on better understanding the mechanisms involved in gustatory function and taste disorders such as dysgeusia. For example, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders is looking into the mechanisms underlying the key receptors on taste cells and applying this knowledge to the future of medications and artificial food products. Meanwhile, the Taste and Smell Clinic at the University of Connecticut Health Center is integrating behavioral, neurophysiological, and genetic studies involving stimulus concentrations and intensities in order to better understand taste function. See also
Anosmia
Parosmia

References
External links
Dysgeusia at NIH