Question

A young person is suffering from cancer in tongue. His tongue is completely removed, then which of the following situation will describe the person that he will be able to-
A. It Tastes sweet and salty.
B. Not able to taste sweet but able to taste salty.
C. Perceive the odour of rose but not able to taste sweet and salt.
D. It Tastes sweet and salty, but does not perceive the odour of rose.

Answer 1

Tongue is a voluntary muscular and glandular structure attached to the floor of mouth by a fold called lingual frenulum. It helps in taste of the food, acts as an accessory digestive organ, it helps in swallowing, it also plays a role in speech and forming words along with lips, teeth and hard palate, etc.

Complete answer:
Cancer is defined as an uncontrolled division or proliferation of cells without any differentiation. The agents that cause cancer are called carcinogens. There are various types of cancers.
Mouth cancer is a type of cancer which is very common for men over the age of 40 and it became more common in younger people and women also. The most common causes of tongue or mouth cancer are tobacco, cigarette, alcohol, etc.
When the tongue is completely removed the person is not able to taste (sweet and salty).
When the tongue is completely removed the person is not able to taste (sweet and salty).
When the tongue is completely removed they are able to smell the rose with the help of their nose but not able to taste (sweet and salt).
When the tongue is completely removed they are able to smell the rose with the help of their nose but not able to taste (sweet and salt).

So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note:
The tongue detects the taste through tiny organs called taste buds, containing gustatory receptors. Humans have about more than 10,000 taste buds. The gustatory receptors bear microvilli at the free end. The microvilli have special protein receptor sites for taste producing molecules.
The gustatory receptor cells are exposed to the external surface through an opening in the taste bud called the taste pore. The gustatory receptor cells survive only about 10 days, and are replaced by new ones. There are four types of taste- sweet, sour, salty and bitter, each detected in a distinct region of a tongue.