Greeting Daugh!
"How do you re-generate your taste buds if they are inflammed as the
result of a cold?"
If your definition of the word "you" means that you have to physically
do the regeneration at will, the answer is, you can't regenerate your
taste buds through your own effort. If you use "you" to pertain to
your body, the answer is, your taste buds will automatically
regenerate over time. Below is an explanation that doesn't exactly
relate to inflammation as a result of cold but describes how your
taste buds regenerate:
"Both the development and maintenance of taste buds is dependent on
nerve innervation. If the nerve innervating taste buds is cut, the
taste buds degenerate, and do not reappear until the nerve
reinnervates the tissue. It is not know how the nerve activates taste
bud formation, and only specific nerves will regenerate taste buds.
Cells within the taste bud have a limited life span of approximately
ten days to two weeks. Therefore, new taste cells must continually
differentiate to replace dying taste cells, and cells at a variety of
different developmental stages are present within a single taste bud.
In consequence, the synapses between taste receptor cells and nerves
must constantly be remodeled. Several morphologically distinct cells
can be distinguished within a single taste bud; these different cell
types may represent different stages in the development of a taste
cell."
(Excerpted from: The Biological Sciences, State University of New York
at Stony Brook, The Molecular Mechanisms of Taste Transduction and
Taste Bud Development, by Susan McLaughlin, Copyright 2003)
http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/neuro/mclaughlinsk.html
To innervate means:
1.To supply (an organ or a body part) with nerves.
2. To stimulate (a nerve, muscle, or body part) to action.
(Source: Bartleby.com - The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the
English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.)
http://www.bartleby.com/61/16/I0151600.html
As described in the excerpt, the regeneration of the taste buds depend
on nerve innervation. It is the main factor in taste bud regeneration
or degeneration. It also says that cells within the taste bud have a
limited life span of approximately ten days to two weeks. So this
means that whether or not the taste bud cells get inflamed as the
result of a cold, they will eventually be replaced by new cells after
some time. So you can just imagine that every two weeks you have new
taste buds.
I reckon that you asked this question because you have very minimal
sense of taste since you got a cold. Taste is not just defined by your
taste buds. Your sense of smell also comes in to play. And so, since
your olfactory nerves (nerves inside your nose) can't function
normally because of your cold, yoursense of taste is also affected.
For more facts about taste please read this link;
The Johns Hopkins University - Johns Hopkins Magazine
A Primer on Taste by Elise Hancock, Copyright 2003
http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/996web/taste.html
You can find more information through the links below.
Search strategy:
"taste bud" regenerate
://www.google.com/search?q=%22taste+bud%22+regenerate&cat=&hl=en
"taste bud" regeneration
://www.google.com/search?q=%22taste+bud%22+regeneration&sa=Google+Search&cat=&hl=en
lose taste cold
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=lose+taste+cold
With regards to the references I have given you, please remember that
Google Answers is not a source of authoritative medical advice as
expressed in the "Important Disclaimer" at the bottom this page. The
material I've presented is for informational purposes only, and should
not be viewed as a substitute for the services of a medical
professional
I hope this helps you. Should you have any comments/questions, please
feel free to post your clarification before rating this and I'll
attend to you as soon as possible. Thanks for asking.
Best regards,
Feilong |
