Amnesia

I think most of us take our memories, well our ability to make memories for granted. There are people out in the world that have done things, experienced hurtful situations and wish nothing more than wanting to forget about them because they think it is just to hard to deal with. I'm sure some of us have been in that situation, where something happens, and we sit in our rooms or cry on the shoulder of a family member or friend wanting to forget everything, and not even bothering to consider that, well, at least we are able to make memories.

There are many people that suffer from accidents, some from random strokes, and some in different situations. However, our memories are precious, and I think most people don't really have a full concept on how precious that part of us is. Our memories is what enables us to go back and think about what we have done, what we can learn from that time so that we can prepare ourselves in the present and in the future. Without our memories, to me, I'm not sure how I could do things, or even make it through school. Lord knows I have to read the book at least eight times until I grasp and memorize everything. Even remembering loved ones we take for granted as well, because if you think about it, how would you feel if you woke up one morning not knowing your past, and forgetting that you can't make new memories? In just a blink of an eye they can all just disappear with not even a snap of your finger.

There is several different type of Amnesia, I find this rather shocking. At first I thought, "Ok, well Amnesia, is Amnesia the person looses their memories and will either get them back, or not." I did not know the severity of each type though.

Antergrade Amnesia occurs when the brain is hit by something that causes a trauma that involves the hippocampus, fornix, or mammillary bodies. People with Antergrade Amnesia are unable to recollect events that happen AFTER the onset of amnesia for more than a few minutes, basically things that happen to them during the day do not get transferred into their long term memory. Their intelligence, personality and judgement are still intact, but because of the amnesia many issues can happen, like losing their job for instance. Memory aids can help though, with memory aids the person can live a pretty much normal life.
I don't know about you, but the movie 50 first days comes to mind. 50 first dates clip in the movie Lucy the main character, suffered from a fictional condition called Goldfield Syndrome, basically Antergrade Amnesia.

Retrograde Amnesia can be caused by either a disease or a brain injury, especially in areas linked to the episodic memory, the hippocampus and median temporal lobes. The individual affected is unable to recollect events that occurred BEFORE  the amnesia. For this condition, early memories are comparatively safe with memory building up to the even. Unfortunately, no cure has been found for this condition. This link Scott Bolan   will lead you to Scott Bolan's interview and testimony of his experience with Retrograde Amnesia. He wrote a book called "My life deleted" presently, he still cannot remember past life.The reality of this type of amnesia really, there is no words to describe how I felt when hearing how Scott Bolan testimony on how he received the support of his family to help him.

Dissociative Amnesia is a condition in which the patient is unable to remember vital personal information in a way that has nothing to do with normal forgetfulness. It is commonly seen in individuals who have witnessed a violent crime or a grave accident and does not occur due to a medical illness. They  do not experience an identity crisis but they tend to pass through a trance-like state and may develop depersonalization as an effort to block out a stressful experience. 

Infantile Amnesia: is basically the inability to recall events from early childhood. Some think that his occurs because of immaturity of the brain in some areas. 

 Transient Global Amnesia (TGA): there is temporary impairment in an otherwise healthy person's memory. During this period of amnesia, the person is unable to recall recent occurrences, visuals or verbal information for more than a couple of minutes. They can retain their identities, immediate recall abilities, distant memories, attention span, language function, visual-spatial and social skills. People that have TGA experience headaches, dizziness, and nausea along with memory loss. The memories can be recovered, and once they recover the individuals are able to remember what occurred during the period of memory loss. TGA generally affects fifty to eighty-year old men. About 100,000 per year receive TGA. Causes of TGA may include: emotional stress, strenuous physical exertion, a small stroke, and migraines. 

 Wernike-Korsakoff's psychosis This amnesia is a progressive disorder caused by extended alcohol abuse. It is usually accompanied by neurological dysfunctions such as loss of co-ordination during movement or a feeling of numbness in the fingers and toes. Dr. Patrick J. Macmillan goes into a deeper insight of Wernike Korsakoff Psychosis and discusses a few cases associated with this diagnosis. Wernicke-Korsikoff Syndrome


Alzheimer's Disease: Alzheimer's disease causes brain changes that gradually get worse. It's the most common cause of dementia. It's a group of brain disorders that cause progressive loss of intellectual and social skills, severe enough to interfere with day-to-day life. In Alzheimer's disease, brain cells degenerate and die, causing a steady decline in memory and mental function.My grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's for several years before she died. It was really hard to deal with emotionally, but I won't go way into detail on that. This link will lead you to a small discussion on Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's Disease
If you have watched the Notebook, then I'm pretty sure you can get a somewhat insight on what Alzheimer's is, even though it's just a movie.  the Notebook