Amnesia | Pantai Hospitals

What Is Amnesia?

Amnesia refers to the partial or total inability to recall past experiences or store new memories, involving significant memory loss. It could be a symptom of an underlying condition or occur spontaneously.

Amnesia is different from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Amnesia primarily affects memory while dementia involves a widespread decline in cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s disease, which causes neurodegeneration in the brain, can lead to amnesia and dementia.

Amnesia may affect short-term and/or long-term memory while dementia tends to affect both. Individuals with amnesia experience difficulty recalling past events and are often aware of gaps in their memory but may not be fully aware of their memory loss.

What Are the Types of Amnesia?

There are many types of amnesia. Some symptoms of amnesia may overlap, and an individual can have more than one type of amnesia. Amnesia can be temporary or long-lasting.

The common types of amnesia include:

Retrograde amnesia

Retrograde amnesia occurs when an individual is unable to recall events from the past. This type of amnesia usually affects recently formed memories first.

Anterograde amnesia

Individuals with anterograde amnesia cannot remember new information. It usually results from brain trauma. These individuals tend to have their full memory from the time before the trauma.

Transient global amnesia

This is a short-lived amnesia that involves both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. One may experience memory loss in the hours leading up to the amnesia and tend to have no recollection of the experience. Transient global amnesia usually resolves within 24 hours.

Post-traumatic amnesia

This form of memory loss usually results from a head injury, such as a blow to the head in a car accident. The affected individual may experience temporary loss of consciousness or even go into a coma. Post-traumatic amnesia is usually temporary but how long it lasts depends on the severity of the injury.

Infantile amnesia

Infantile amnesia is a common phenomenon and not a disorder, as most people do not remember the first three to five years of their lives.

Dissociative amnesia

Commonly known as the fugue state, an individual may forget both their past and their identities. It usually occurs due to a traumatic event. The ability to remember may return within minutes, hours, or days. The memory of the triggering event, however, may never return completely.

What Are the Symptoms of Amnesia?

The symptoms of amnesia depend on the type of amnesia. Common symptoms include:

Impaired ability to remember past events or learn new information
Impaired short-term memory
Partial or total memory loss
Experiencing real memories misplaced in time or completely invented memories (confabulation)
Confusion

What Are the Causes of Amnesia?

Amnesia can occur due to a myriad of factors. However, they can be broadly categorised into neurological causes and psychological causes.

Neurological amnesia

Neurological causes of amnesia involve damage to the brain or disruptions in brain activity. The common causes include:

Alzheimer’s disease
Brain aneurysms
Brain tumours
Cerebral hypoxia (insufficient oxygen to the brain)
Epilepsy and seizures
Head injuries
Brain infections
Stroke
‘Blackouts’ due to alcohol intoxication
Drugs and medications (especially sedatives and anaesthesia)
Degenerative brain diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis)
Toxins or poisons (e.g., carbon monoxide, heavy metal poisoning)
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (vitamin B1 deficiency due to long-term alcohol abuse)

Psychological causes of amnesia

Mental health issues can also cause memory problems. These include dissociative disorders (especially dissociative amnesia) and post-traumatic stress disorder (especially complex PTSD).

Psychological causes of amnesia tend to involve a traumatic event or severe emotional distress. While experts do not fully comprehend why this occurs, they suspect that it is the brain’s way of protecting an individual from psychological harm.

How Is Amnesia Diagnosed?

Your physician will take a detailed medical history (including from family members or caregivers) and conduct a series of neurological examinations before ordering diagnostic laboratory tests and imaging scans to help confirm the diagnosis.

The tests recommended varies depending on your symptoms and the suspected underlying cause of the amnesia. These include:

Neuropsychological assessment.
Computed tomography (CT) scan.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) to look for seizure activity.
Blood tests (to look for infection, nutritional deficiency, electrolyte levels and blood sugar levels).
Spinal tap (lumbar puncture) to examine cerebrospinal fluids for possible causative factors.

How Is Amnesia Treated?

In many cases, amnesia may resolve spontaneously. However, amnesia due to an underlying physical or mental disorder may require treatment. For example, if the amnesia is due to vitamin B1 deficiency, replenishing the nutritional deficit can help with recovery. Individuals with amnesia may not understand what is happening to them, preventing them from making informed decisions regarding their medical care. These individuals will require a family member or caregiver to help make these decisions for them.

Cognitive behavioural therapy and occupational therapy can help with recovering from memory loss. These therapies will enable individuals with amnesia to acquire skills to compensate for memory loss and related abilities. Family support is also vital. Spending time together and revisiting old memories can help bring back memories from the past.

Can Amnesia be Prevented?

Amnesia is usually unpredictable and happens suddenly, causing acute memory loss. Gradual loss of memory, on the other hand, could be a symptom of degenerative brain disease. Some preventive measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of having amnesia include:

Wearing safety equipment, when necessary, for example, helmet
Eating a balanced diet
Having enough rest and managing stress properly
Stay physically and mentally active
Quit smoking
Avoid excess consumption of alcohol

Amnesia that affects how you form or store memories tend to be permanent while amnesia that affects how you retrieve memories may improve over time. Memory loss is also more likely to be permanent if it occurs due to permanent damage to the brain, such as in Alzheimer's disease.

How to Care for Someone with Amnesia?

Individuals with amnesia can compensate for their memory loss using several methods. The use of notes and lists in clearly visible living spaces can help mitigate the effects of memory loss.

Support from family and friends by spending time together and reminiscing can contribute to recovery as well. People with anterograde amnesia or amnesia due to degenerative brain diseases usually need support or round-the-clock care.

Book an Appointment at Pantai Hospitals

Amnesia should always be checked out immediately, regardless of the underlying cause. This can potentially reduce the chances of long-term memory-related complications and other cognitive issues.

A dedicated and expert team of neurologists at Pantai Hospitals is available for consultation to provide the best care and assistance to patients through health screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Get in touch with us to book an appointment with a neurologist today.

Pantai Hospital Malaysia is accredited by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) for its commitment to patient safety and service quality.

‌This article has been medically reviewed by Consultant in Geriatric & Internal Medicine, Dr Tay Hui Sian.

Amnesia: Symptoms, Diagnosis Treatment