About 1/15 Americans are older than the age of 40 answered that they often experience Phantom odors also called as Phantosmia or an olfactory hallucination. It is a phenomenon that you smell odors. It is usually described as smelling something burned, foul, or rotten.

There is similar a phenomenon to Phantosmia. That is called anosmia. It is a condition in which you do not smell well or do not at all. In the case of olfactory disorders, there are two main causes, one which is a conductive olfactory disorder in which the odor molecules are prevented from transmitting to the olfactory cells, and the other is problematic. There is also a condition which is called phantosmia smells bad, or a peroxide that makes a person smells different from the original, in which case you should question the possibility of mental problems, such as epilepsy.

There are no clear reasons about phantom odors. However, there are some clues to describe this phenomenon. For example, phantom odors are caused by brain injury, dry mouth or low socioeconomic situation. Also, people who have financial problems experience poorer health generally. So, phantom odors can be treated by the certain heath treatments or the health medications. There are also proofs that smoking is also associated with phantom others.