A Guide To Short Term Memory Loss

Short-term memory loss is when you forget stuff that has happened recently, while you may remember things from twenty years ago. In short-term memory loss, you may not be able to recall things you have seen, heard, or done recently, as recent as twenty minutes before. This article aims to throw light upon the symptoms, causes, diagnosis of and treatment for this condition so that it becomes easy to navigate through this condition.

Let’s talk about the signs and symptoms first:

Memory loss is a fairly natural part of getting older, affecting most people with increasing age. However, it could also be an indication of a deeper issue, such as dementia or an injury to the brain, which requires prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment. The key is to recognize the signs, and the need to be able to tell the difference between signs of forgetfulness and signs associated with any type of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s.

Some of the signs of short-term memory loss include unable to recall recent events, difficulty remembering where you just put something, such as car keys, unable to recollect what you saw, read or heard recently, and asking the same questions again and again.

Causes:

Short-term memory loss is when you are fuzzy on the details of stuff that happened recently, which could be an outcome of medical conditions or could be associated with injuries. Here are some of the major reasons:

1. Increasing age
2. Brain tumors
3. Formation of blood clots in the brain
4. A heavy blow to the head
5. Mental health issues, such as depression
6. Alzheimer’s disease, or other related dementias
7. Stress
8. Brain infection
9. Insufficient sleep
10. It can occur as a result of medical conditions that harm brain tissue, such as Huntington’s disease
11. Lack of adequate amounts of certain minerals and vitamins in the body
12. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (triggered by a shocking or dangerous event)

Diagnosis and Treatment:

If you’ve been facing the aforementioned signs, a consult with your doctor is a MUST, who’ll carry out a thorough physical examination, while simultaneously holding a conversation about the signs of memory loss you are experiencing, amount of time you’ve been experiencing it for, your lifestyle, any recent injuries, medications you are on, amount of alcohol you consume, so on and so forth. They could also order blood tests to figure out if the reason for your condition is vitamin deficiencies or infection. Brain scans such as MRI or CT scan are the other options to check for any physical cause.

Last, but not the least you may have to undergo cognitive tests, and accordingly future course of action will be determined.

Treatment completely depends upon the course, which can range from radiation or surgery for brain tumors, cognitive therapy for a head injury, medication to treat bleeding or blood clots in the brain, to nutritional supplements and medication or therapy for mental health issues. Remember some causes of short-term memory loss has no cure, dementia in particular is being referred to over here. It is a progressive condition that may necessitate Anthem assisted living as days pass for the person to live a quality life via specialized memory care.