Can 'mind-blowing sex' cause amnesia?
A woman experiences severe — albeit temporary — memory loss. The last thing she remembers? Having great sex with her husband
![Sex can reportedly trigger a rare condition called "transient global amnesia," which may explain one 54-year-old's two-day amnesia](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iMPLQ5NNPdzNjfPjh26HNo-415-80.jpg)
A 54-year-old woman checked into Georgetown University Hospital with a peculiar condition: She couldn't recall anything from the past 24 hours. The last thing she remembered was having sex with her husband. An MRI scan revealed nothing unusual, and by the time the woman left the emergency room, her symptoms had faded. What happened? In a new case study published in The Journal of Emergency Medicine, neurologists pose the question: Did "mind-blowing" sex cause this woman to lose her memory? Here's what you should know:
What was her diagnosis?
The woman suffered from a rare condition called "transient global amnesia," or TGA. It's essentially a powerful memory lapse with no lasting side effects. Although this type of amnesia is temporary, "because it's so severe, it can be distressing," says Ted Thornhill at Britain's Daily Mail. Little is known about what causes TGA. Doctors think it has something to do with "misfiring valves in the neck" that upset the natural flow of oxygenated blood between the heart and the brain.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And neurologists think sex was the culprit?
Strenuous physical activity like sex can trigger the condition. Doctors suspect something called the "Valsalva maneuver" — a "bearing down" type of exertion that happens when you lift weights, squat over a toilet, or have an orgasm — may have built pressure in this woman's abdomen and interfered with blood flow to the brain. The result is a "scrambling of the memory circuits," says Dr. Carol Lippa.
Could this happen to me?
Maybe. But it isn't likely. People in their 50s and 60s are most vulnerable, and there are only three to five cases of TGA reported per 100,000 people per year, says Thornhill. The condition "can occur after any activity" — even, theoretically, "while someone is playing Ping-Pong," says Dr. Arthur Shimamura. "But that wouldn't be as titillating."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sources: ABC News, Daily Mail, Live Science
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The manosphere: the shady online network of masculinists
The Explainer A new police report said a rise in radicalised young men is contributing to an increase in violence against women and girls
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How can we fix tourism?
Today's Big Question Local protests over negative impact of ever-rising visitor numbers could change how we travel forever
By The Week UK Published
-
Simone Biles: Rising – an 'elegantly paced and vulnerable' portrait of the gymnast
The Week Recommends Netflix's four-part documentary is more than a 'riveting comeback story'
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published