Duration
It is difficult to give precise information about the duration of retrograde amnesia. The damage to the brain does not necessarily have to be related to the extent of the memory gap. Thus, the duration varies individually, in some cases there is a loss of content for a few seconds or minutes, in others the amnesia can last for up to 24 hours and the affected person has a film tear for the respective period after the triggering event.
Certainly, there are many factors that can worsen amnesia, but the exact influencing factors are still relatively unknown. Furthermore, it also differs whether the person affected remembers individual circumstances at some point or at all. So it is possible that someone can reconstruct the events.
With time, some remember individual thoughts that were previously erased. This leads to more and more details, so that the memory gap can be closed completely. This can occur a few days later or only after several years.
Prognosis
The prognosis of retrograde amnesia depends on the trigger of the memory loss. Therefore, if the cause is clear and can be well treated, a better course of the disease can be expected. If, for example, epilepsy or cranial nerve inflammation is detected and treated immediately, there is less risk of subsequent symptoms.
A quick treatment after an accident or fall with craniocerebral trauma is also particularly important in order to keep the consequential damage as low as possible. Because the loss of consciousness is also a life-threatening condition. In retrospect, the course of events can be influenced favourably by targeted training of the short-term memory and reactivation of the long-term memory.
In some cases it is even possible to regain the erased memory content over time. However, this can take several years.
