Memory Loss: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

By Esther Heerema, MSW

Esther Heerema, MSW, shares practical tips gained from working with hundreds of people whose lives are touched by Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia. Sometimes, MCI responds to medications that are designed to treat Alzheimer’s. Some cases of MCI hold steady or even resolve completely, while others progress into Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) consists of a decline in mental abilities that develops gradually but generally doesn’t change the person’s ability to function fairly well on a daily basis. In addition, studies published in 2017 have shown that those with albuminuria (the presence of albumin protein in the urine) are more likely to display impaired memory and cognition. Sometimes memory lapses can be attributed to medications or other substances.

In addition to abstaining from alcohol, moderation and pace are important to preventing blackouts. Avoid binge drinking, which is defined as consuming five or more drinks in about can ptsd cause blackouts two hours for men, or four or more drinks for women. One study estimated that the odds of experiencing a blackout is about 50% when blood alcohol content reaches 0.22 percent.

Symptoms

Memory loss can also be caused by other kinds of dementia, such as vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and several others. A TIA, also known as a « little stroke » (although that isn’t completely accurate medically), is a brief blockage in the brain that can cause lapses in memory, along with other stroke-like symptoms. Symptoms usually resolve on their own, but treatment is important to prevent future strokes. If you’re receiving chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer, you might experience « chemo brain, » described as brain fog from the medicines targeting your cancer. Knowing that this is a common and often temporary effect from chemotherapy can be reassuring. Despite feeling « out of it » in daily life, the person with pseudodementia will be able to perform quite well on cognitive tests.

Semiotics provide an understanding of cognitive processes such as learning, imagination, and memory. A new AI technique endows neural networks with more human-like language generalization ability—a milestone achievement in pursuing artificial general intelligence. Forgetting can be frustrating when one notices it, but much of what people forget escapes memory quietly. Experts say it’s a feature, not a bug, of the way memory works. It can also be progressive, meaning it happens repetitively and worsens gradually over time.

Can blackouts be prevented?

Studies have also found that women may be at greater risk of blackouts even though they generally drink less alcohol less frequently than men. This may be due to the physiological differences that affect alcohol distribution and metabolism. These include body weight, body fat percentage, and key enzyme levels. Excessive alcohol use, stress, medication, and epilepsy can all cause blackouts.

Similar numbers of men and women report blacking out, but men drink much more often and more heavily than women. The logical conclusion is that women are at a greater risk for blacking out than men. Researchers theorize that women may black out more easily because of differences in the ways the bodies of men and women metabolize alcoholic drinks, but more research is needed to be sure. Studies also suggest that prenatal exposure to alcohol increases a person’s chance of experiencing blackouts in the future, and certain genes may increase a person’s likelihood to black out. The researchers tested their memories after the first hour by showing them images and asking them to recall the details two minutes, 30 minutes and 24 hours later.

How are blackouts treated?

Just like other parts of the body, the brain changes with age, with accompanying differences in the ability to recall information. But not everyone experiences such declines to the same degree as they get older, and some forms of memory—such as the memory for familiar physical tasks—seem largely unhindered by age. Many of these are treatable, but time is usually a key factor.

• You may be irritable, impulsive, aggressive or chronically angry most of the time.
• You shouldn’t treat it at home without first seeking emergency care.
• Low blood pressure typically causes syncope blackouts because the heart cannot pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the brain.
• In a 2004 study published in the American Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, only one out of 50 college students who had experienced a blackout said they blacked out after drinking beer alone.
• It’s important to remember that a blackout isn’t the same as passing out.

Studies seem to agree that heavy drinking alone doesn’t cause blackouts. Thus, the main cause of a blackout is a rapid rise in blood alcohol, which can be propelled by drinking on an empty stomach or while dehydrated. Regardless of age, recent studies show more frequent blackout experiences are related to an increase in memory lapse and cognitive difficulties even after alcohol misuse is corrected. This means that even after a blackout occurs, you can continue to experience memory loss and other difficulties recalling memories.

People who are blacked out are likely to continue drinking because the substance jeopardizes their judgment. They may not remember how much they have consumed, so they continue drinking excessively. Alcohol poisoning and death from alcohol overdose are direct consequences of drinking too much alcohol. In a study of 100 alcoholics published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 36 participants said they had never experienced a blackout despite a history of heavy alcohol use. Scientists debate the exact way a memory is formed, but most agree that memories are made in three stages.

You may not have any memory of the time that’s passed when your blood alcohol content is above that threshold. The American Heart Association (AHA) describe a syncope blackout as a short temporary loss of consciousness that happens when not enough blood reaches the brain. It is well known that some forms of memory ability tend to become less sharp as the decades of one’s life pass by.