Introduction to Amnesia

 Definition 

        When people loss their ability to memorize information and recall information that stored in

 memory, they have amnesia. Although amnesia is a popular theme for movies and books. It is a very

 rare condition.

Fast facts on amnesia

        Amnesia is an inability to lay down new memories/ or recall old memories.  Other symptoms of amnesia can include confusion and uncoordinated movements. Alcohol abuse can lead to a type of amnesia known as Wernicke-Korsakoff 's psychosis. Amnesia may be caused by many things including traumatic experiences and brain injury. The majority of amnesia cases resolve without treatment.

Causes of Amnesia

There are three causes of amnesia.

Causes of medical amnesia

This refers to amnesia caused by brain injury or damage. Possible causes are;

 Strokes

  • Encephalitis-brain inflammation. This can be caused by a viral infection, such as herpes simplex (HSV), or an autoimmune reaction to cancer in another part of the body (paraneoplastic limbic encephalities, PLE).
  • Celiac disease although no clear link has been completely agreed on researchers report that people with celiac disease commonly seek medical help for amnesia, confusion, and personality changes.
  • Oxygen deprivation- any illness or situation which undermines the supply of oxygen to the brain, such as a heart attack respiratory distress, or carbon monoxide poisoning.
  • Some medications-such as the sleeping drug, Ambient.
  • Subarachnoid hemorrhage- bleeding in the area between the skull and the brain.
  • A brain tumor that lies in a part of the brain important for memory.
  • Some seizure disorders.
  • ECT (electroconvulsive therapy)-also known as electroshock therapy. This is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are induced for therapeutic effect on anesthetized patient. The memory loss is nearly always temporary.
  • Head injuries-such as those that occur in car accidents. can lead to memory problems. In most cases the amnesia is not severe and is not long-lasting.

 Causes of Psychological amnesia

Also known as dissociative amnesia that is caused by an emotional shock, such as

  • Being the victim of a violent crime.
  • Sexual abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Being involved in a natural disaster
  • Being present during a terrorist act

What are the symptoms of Amnesia?

The common symptoms of amnesia are following;

  • The ability to learn new information is impaired (anterograde amnesia)
  • the ability to remember past events and previously familiar information is impaired (retrograde amnesia)
  •  False memories-these may be either completely invented or consist of rest memories misplaced in time (confabulation)
  • Uncoordinated movements, sometimes tremors (neurological problem)
  • Confusion or disorientation
  • Problem with short term memory
  • Partial loss of memory
  • Total loss of memory
  • Failure to recognize faces
  • Inability to recognize places

       Amnesia is different from dementia includes memory loss; it’s also involves other important cognitive problem that may affect the patient's ability to carry out daily activities.

Types of Amnesia

There are many different types of amnesia. Below is the list of most common ones.

  • Anterograde amnesia- the patient cannot remember new information. Things happened recently; information that should be stored into short term memory disappear. This usually caused by brain trauma (brain damage from a blow to the head for example) however a patient with anterograde amnesia can remember data and events that happened before the injury.
  • Retrograde amnesia-often thought of as the opposite of anterograde amnesia. The patient cannot remember events that occurred before their trauma but remembers things that happened after it. In very instances, both retrograde and anterograde amnesia can occur together.
  • Transient global amnesia-a temporary loss of all memory. The patient with transient global amnesia also finds it very hard to form new memories (severe anterograde amnesia). The loss of past memories is milder. This is a very rare form of amnesia and is most likely to occur in older adults with vascular (blood vessels) disease.
  • Traumatic Amnesia-memory loss caused by hard blow to the head: for instance, a car accident. people with traumatic amnesia may experience a brief loss of consciousness, or even go into a coma. In the majority of cases the amnesia is temporary- how long it lasts usually depends on how severe the injury is.
  • Wernicke-Korsakoff's psychosis-this is caused by extended alcohol abuse. The disorder tends to be progressive. gradually worsening over time. Patient with Wernicke Korsakoff’s psychosis also tend to have neurological problems. Such as poor coordination and a loss of feelings in the toes and fingers. It also be caused by malnutrition specifically a thiamin (vitamin B) deficiency.
  • Hysterical (fugue or dissociative) amnesia- this is a very rare phenomenon. Patient forget not only their past but their very identity. A person could wake up and suddenly not have any sense of who they are- even if they look in the mirror, they do not recognize their own reflection. All the details in their wallet-driving license, credit cards, IDs are meaningless. This type of amnesia is usually triggered by an event that the person's mind is unable to cope with properly. In most cases, their memory either slowly or suddenly comes back within a few days. However, the memory of the shocking event itself may never come back completely.
  • Childhood Amnesia (infantile amnesia)-the patient cannot recall events from early childhood. Experts say this type of amnesia may be associated with language development. Others say it is possible that some memory area of the brain were not fully mature during
  • Posthypnotic amnesia- event during hypnosis cannot be recalled.
  • Source amnesia- the person can remember certain information but those not know how we where they got that information.
  • Blackout phenomenon-amnesia caused by about of heavy drinking. The individual cannot remember chunks of time during the binge.

Treatment of Amnesia

        While there are no medications available to treat amnesia, underlying medical conditions can be treated to improve memory. Such conditions include but are not limited to low thyroid function, liver or kidney disease, stroke, depression, bipolar disorder and blood clots in the brain. 

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