The Five Senses: Taste
By Alex Zoellner
KU Med Students Learn to Treat With Food, Not Just Prescriptions
Most people only know one spaghetti recipe. Students at the University of Kansas School of Medicine know four.
In the school’s week-long culinary medicine course, first- and second-year medical students trade their white coats for aprons and learn firsthand how food can be used as medicine. Through actually cooking meals in the kitchen, they gain practical experience while also learning to counsel patients on nutrition, a skill often missing from clinical training.
But the course goes beyond just what’s on the plate, says Dr. Marissa Love, assistant professor of internal medicine and course instructor at KU.
It opens with students volunteering at Kanbe’s Markets, a Kansas City nonprofit that brings fresh produce to neighborhoods without grocery stores. Here, they learn about food insecurity and waste, which are barriers their future patients may face.
In the kitchen, students prepare meals tailored to patient needs, including multiple versions of spaghetti, from standard cafeteria-style to fully vegetarian. They work through clinical cases, exploring how food can support patients with conditions like diabetes or hypertension and reflecting on how to make those dietary changes realistic.
“The purpose is to bring an increase in nutrition education for the medical students, but do it in a way that’s practical and allows them to have that lived experience,” Love says. “That way, they can relate to their patients and provide effective counseling.”
With most chronic illnesses in the U.S. linked to diet, the program gives future doctors the tools to treat root causes, not just symptoms.
A Sour Twist for Anxiety
While everyone has certain grounding techniques for anxiety, experimenting with new approaches can still help. Sour candy has not been scientifically proven to help with mild panic attacks or anxiety, but many reports have shown positive results.
Instead of focusing on the cause of the anxiety or panic, one’s attention turns to the intense sour taste and sensation in their mouth. Researchers say tasting sour candy might work because it helps interrupt the cycle of thoughts that have brought on feelings of anxiety and bring them to the present moment.
Some people have reported that the more sour the candy is, the better. More specific candies include WarHeads, Lemonheads and Jolly Ranchers.
While some therapists recommend trying this approach, others are more apprehensive, saying that it could lead to an unhealthy coping mechanism. There is also a worry that people might build a sour candy tolerance and an over-reliance on food for anxiety relief. :
The Five Senses: Sight
Nelson-Atkins Brings Color to All With EnChroma Glasses
For visitors who’ve never seen the deep red of a Monet sunset or the vibrant greens in a Van Gogh landscape, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is changing that by offering EnChroma glasses to guests with red-green color blindness.
The initiative is part of the EnChroma Color Accessibility Program, which has provided over 400 organizations worldwide with glasses to make color-rich experiences more inclusive. The Nelson-Atkins has participated since 2019 and has four pairs available at coat check, free of charge.
The glasses work by expanding the user’s range of visible colors, helping them better perceive contrast between red and green hues. According to EnChroma, red-green color blindness, the most common type, affects an estimated 350 million people globally, limiting the experience of both art and everyday life.
With more than 35,000 pieces in its collection, the museum hopes these glasses allow guests to enjoy its collection with a deeper color perception and fuller emotional impact. :
The Five Senses: Touch
How a Kansas Dementia Facility Is Healing With Animals
By Tierney Flavin
Residents at Prairie Elder Care are getting one-on-one time with a sheep aptly named Woody Nelson.
The assisted living facility specializes in dementia and Alzheimer’s care. Their three residential homes boast a Care Farm—one of two of its kind globally, according to Lisa Elliott, director of sales, engagement and community programs.
The Care Farm includes a garden with seasonal crops and a fruit tree orchard, which residents help tend. The farm also includes a variety of animals used for personalized therapy. Currently, Prairie Elder Care is home to two pigs, two goats, two sheep, two guinea pigs, a cat and “a whole gaggle of chickens,” Elliott says.
The animals are acclimated to human touch before being introduced to residents. Smaller animals, such as chickens and guinea pigs, sit on residents’ laps. Other animals are fed, cared for and pet by residents.
Elliott, who has worked for Prairie Elder Care for nine years, says that sensory interaction with animals can be a good alternative to pharmaceutical intervention for residents who feel anxious or overwhelmed. Caring for and interacting with animals gives residents a “sense of purpose,” Elliott says, as well as increasing social interaction and relaxation. :
The Five Senses: Smell
KC Tap Water Isn’t Passing The Smell Test
By Tierney Flavin
Recently, Kansas Citians have complained that the taste and smell of their water isn’t up to par. According to KC Water, it’s due to the area’s increased rainfall.
With more rain falling into the Missouri River, causing excess runoff, the water department says it had to adapt its water treatments, which can have an impact on taste and odor. Changes to the “taste, odor and color” are “naturally occurring” due to its source—the Missouri River—but these changes don’t affect the safety of the drinking water, the department states.
Changes to tap water are often caused by changes in the weather, including heavy precipitation, which impact the levels of “silt and natural organic matter” that is carried through the river, KC water states.
The water department adjusts these changes through the water treatment process, but there may still be changes to the water’s color, odor and taste based on both the chemicals used and the water’s natural changes.
The chemicals are used in order to maintain the tap water’s safety. Although the KC Water website notes that additional loose mud or silt in the river does not pose health risks, the chemicals are required to meet federal and state drinking water standards. Apparent changes to water does not impact the safety or quality of drinking water, KC Water’s website states. Based on the amount of adjustment to the treatment process, these temporary changes in water color, smell and taste last between “a few days” to “a few weeks” at a time.
KC Water services 478,000 residents in the area, according to their website.
Smells Like Relief
Children’s Mercy offers an alternative to pain relief. Alongside, or instead of, pharmaceutical interventions, nurses and patients may opt for aromatherapy patches to improve various pain symptoms.
Data recorded by nurses between 2017 and 2018 was originally presented to the Magnetizing KC Symposium—an event held to promote “best practices” in KC Magnet hospitals—by nurses Liz Edmundson and Tiffany Kim. Their presentation included results tallied from over 1,000 patients.
The program is made up of four essential oils: mandarin, spearmint, lavender and peppermint. Each is administered as a direct inhalation patch beneath the patient’s clavicle to mitigate respective symptoms. According to Children’s Mercy’s website, mandarin can be used to soothe upset stomach, irritability and restlessness; spearmint addresses upset stomach and urinary retention; lavender is used to target muscle tension, irritability and restlessness; and peppermint is used for upset stomach, muscle tension and urinary retention.
This treatment is not intended to replace medicinal care, but it may provide comfort and symptom relief to patients.
Edmundson and Kim noted the difference between these clinical practices which implement essential oils and the commercial sale and use of these products. They say that there is no data to prove that commercial essential oils provide “measurable clinical benefit[s].”
Their presented data showed that by December of 2018, 87 percent of patients who opted for aromatherapy patches reported “symptoms improved.”
The use of direct inhalation patches is intentional, allowing for specific patient care that does not impact others in the direct vicinity “who might be sensitive to the smells from a diffuser,” according to the hospital’s website. :
The Five Senses: Hearing
Completely Concealed Hearing Aids Are on Their Way
By Olivia Mahl
There are several clinical trials going on across the country that involve completely concealing hearing aids under the skin.
The Medical University of South Carolina was the first trial site in the country to implant the first completely concealed hearing aid under the skin in the U.S. this spring. The other six trial sites are in Arizona, California, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio and Oklahoma.
With a fully concealed hearing aid, there are absolutely no external components needed for the patient to hear. There is no microphone showing, and the ear canal is open. The battery is under the skin and uses piezoelectric sensor technology, which replaces the microphone found in other hearing devices.
Sound enters the ear as it normally would and makes tiny vibrations in the incus, a small bone. The sensor feels these vibrations and changes them to electrical signals, which are then sent to the inner ear and hearing nerve, helping the wearer hear sounds.
The concealed battery charges using an external charging coil that is placed over the implanted battery in the chest to recharge. There is also a hands-free charging holder that secures it into place.
