Transient global amnesia is rare
DEAR DOCTOR: Can you shed some light on transient global amnesia? I was diagnosed with this five years ago (I’m now 71) after my family noticed that I couldn’t recall common facts. I had no physical ailment or injury before this.
DEAR READER:
Transient global amnesia is a short-lived inability to retain new memories. Because the episodes are so sudden, they can be disorienting to all involved. Afflicted people often repeatedly ask questions about the date, their location or their reason for being there. They can temporarily lose memories from a few hours before the event to, more rarely, up to a year before the event.
Note that such episodes do not affect a person’s ability to perform complex tasks such as driving, cooking, lecturing and playing a musical instrument. Nor do the events interfere with self-awareness.
The episodes last, on average, about six hours, but can be as short as one hour or as long as 10 hours. Afterward, a person does not remember anything that transpired during the episode and may even lose some memories
formed just before the incident. Although the episodes can be preceded by an acute emotional event, physical activity or exposure to cold or heat, doctors don’t really know what causes such amnesia.
One strong risk factor is psychogenic stress — a psychiatric condition that produces a physical response. A 2005 study found that people with a history of psychiatric disease or alcohol abuse had three times the likelihood of experiencing transient global amnesia.
The condition typically occurs in people ages 50 to 80 and is diagnosed in one in every 3,500 people over 50 each year in the United States. Men and women are equally affected. Because the symptoms can resemble those of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack, many people mistake the condition for a stroke or TIA. Because of the similarity in symptoms, immediate medical attention is needed to rule out more serious causes.
This sudden loss of memory must have been unnerving for you. Take comfort in the fact that it’s unlikely to happen again.