People rely on memory to remember what to do today and what happened during their childhoods. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that as people get older, they have a more difficult time remembering information. But certain disorders can cause memory loss, affecting a person's ability to learn new memories or retrieving stored memories. While Alzheimer's disease, a type of dementia, causes memory loss, other brain conditions can cause temporary or permanent memory loss.
Alcohol Use
When a person drinks, the alcohol affects their cognitive abilities. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) states that when people drink large amounts of alcohol on an empty stomach, they can have a blackout. During a blackout, people cannot remember what happened. The Mayo Clinic notes that memory loss from alcohol use is a reversible type of memory loss if users quit before they become addicted to alcohol. Too much alcohol use, however, can result in a thiamine deficiency. Alcohol prevents the body from breaking down thiamine properly, so even if a person has a healthy diet, heavy alcohol use results in a deficiency. A thiamine deficiency results in a neurological condition called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which affects a patient's ability to remember and learn.
Mental Health
People going through difficult periods of their lives may have problems with memory. For example, people dealing with depression, anxiety or large amounts of stress can become forgetful or have problems concentrating, which impairs their ability to learn new information. The Mayo Clinic states that memory loss with mental health problems is an issue among older adults. Once the condition resolves, patients should not have the problems with memory anymore. The FDA notes that sleep deprivation from stress can also cause memory problems.
Conditions That Damage to the Brain
Located in the temporal lobe of the brain, which is by the ears, the hippocampus plays an integral role in memory formation. The hippocampus takes short-term memories and convert them into long-term, or permanent, memories. When damage occurs to the hippocampus, that process is disrupted, resulting in memory problems. The Mayo Clinic notes that a minor head injury, in which the patient sustains impact to the head, causes temporary memory loss. A lack of oxygen in the brain, such as from a near drowning experience, cause cells to die in the brain, which can result in memory problems. Brain tumors located on the temporal lobe and surgery that disrupts tissue in the temporal lobe can also cause memory loss. Temporary memory loss can occur when a patient has seizures in that region of the brain.
Illnesses and Infections
Certain illnesses and infections that affect the brain can disrupt normal brain function, resulting in memory loss. Some infections that cause memory loss started as sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV and syphilis. Infections like tuberculosis and Lyme disease can also damage a person's memory. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes that illnesses that cause a loss of brain cells, such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, cause memory loss in patients.
Medications and Treatments
Certain medications can cause memory loss from use. For example, anti-anxiety medications, like benzodiazepines and barbiturates, can cause problems with memory. Patients undergoing treatment for cancer, such as radiation, can have memory loss. Problems with memory may occur after chemotherapy, according to the NIH. Electroconvulsive therapy, a type of treatment for severe depression, may cause temporary memory loss.
Nutritional Deficits
Lacking certain nutrients can cause problems with memory. For example, not enough Vitamin B12, which maintains nerve cells, results in memory loss. The Mayo Clinic notes that Vitamin B12 deficiency is a common among older adults. Vitamin B1, or thiamine, deficiency can also cause memory loss.
