Memory loss affects most people, whether it’s the loss of short-term memory or occasional forgetfulness interfering with your normal life. Even in Marlboro Township memory loss is effective in livelihoods. There are many causes of these conditions as discussed below.
Causes of Memory Loss
The most common causes of memory loss include:
Medications
Certain prescription medications and non-prescription medications can affect your memory. For example, anxiety medications, antidepressants, muscle relaxants, sleeping pills, pain medications after surgery, antihistamines, and tranquilizers.
Alcohol & Drug / Tobacco Use
Excessive consumption of alcohol has been known to cause memory loss. Smoking tobacco affects your memory by lowering the oxygen amount entering your brain. Most cigarette smokers have more difficulties remembering the names of people they know than non-smokers. Consequently, illegal drugs alter the chemicals in your brain making it difficult to recollect memories.
Sleep Deprivation
Both the quality and quantity of your sleep are vital to your memory. Too little sleep leads to fatigue and interferes with your ability to retrieve or consolidate information.
Anxiety and Depression
Depression and anxiety make it difficult to focus or pay attention, which in turn affects your memory. Anxiety affects your concentration as you tense which distracts or overstimulates your mind making your ability to remember things suffer. Consequently, stress leads to emotional trauma which affects your memory.
Nutritional Deficiency
Good nutrition promotes proper brain function as your body gets fats and high-quality proteins essential in brain development and function. Deficiencies in vitamin B12 and B1 affects memory.
Head Injuries and Stroke
Severe head trauma from events like fall or car accidents can injure your brain causing long-term and short-term memory loss. However, your memory may improve with time. A stroke is caused when blood supply to your brain stops because of a blockage of a blood vessel going to your brain or there is a leakage of a blood vessel into the brain. Often, it results in short-term memory loss.
Transient Global Amnesia and Dementia
It’s where you lose memory formation briefly. The condition clears without causing harm. Dementia is a progressive memory loss. It’s severe and interferes with your daily functioning. Causes include alcohol and drug abuse, blood vessel disease, and damage to your brain. Alzheimer’s disease is where you lose brain cells due to irregularities in your brain.
Treatment of Memory Loss
It all depends on the cause as some are reversible with treatment and others are irreversible. Those caused by medications can be reversed by prescribing alternative drugs.
Nutritional supplements are given in case of nutritional deficiency. Those suffering from depression, anxiety, or stress get appropriate treatment and they overcome their memory loss over time. Treatments offered depend on your specific causing factors resulting in memory loss. For example, if you have Alzheimer’s disease, you get drugs to treat it and lower your blood pressure to reduce the risks of brain damage.
When to Consult Your Doctor
Consult your doctor when your memory loss starts to bother you. The Doctor will run tests to determine the cause and degree of memory loss problem before diagnosing. You get to answer questions which means you need a loved one or friend to help you answer them based on what they observe.
A general physical exam tests your thinking and memory skills. The physical can order blood and imaging tests to help know the reversible causes of your memory loss. The doctor can refer you to a neurologist, geriatrician, or psychiatrist.
Conclusion
It’s important that you know the cause of your memory loss for proper treatment. A diagnosis helps you deal with the memory loss and reverse it using appropriate treatment before it degenerates beyond help. Consult a doctor to know more about your memory loss.
