Amnesia resulting from brain injury or damage is called as - - UPPSC 2023

UPPSC 2023

Medical Surgical Nursing

Easy

Appeared in: UPPSC 2023

Explanation

The question asks for the term that specifically describes amnesia caused by a physical factor like 'brain injury or damage'.
Organic Amnesia is the precise medical term for memory loss that has a demonstrable biological, physiological, or structural cause affecting the brain.
Causes include head trauma, stroke, tumors, infections (like encephalitis), hypoxia, and neurodegenerative diseases, all of which represent a form of physical damage.
The other options describe the characteristics of memory loss (its direction in time or its duration) rather than its fundamental cause.

Option A: This term describes the direction of memory loss (inability to form new memories), not its underlying cause. A patient with organic amnesia can experience anterograde amnesia, but the term itself doesn't specify the cause.
Option B: This term describes the duration of the memory loss (temporary), not its cause. While a transient ischemic attack can cause temporary organic amnesia, 'transient' refers to the time course, not the etiology.
Option D: This term describes the direction of memory loss (inability to recall past events), not its cause. It is a symptom that can result from organic amnesia.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: Knowing Classification of amnesia based on etiology helps nurses interpret findings accurately and avoid errors in routine assessment, medication administration, and patient teaching.
In a clinical setting, identifying the cause of amnesia is critical. If organic amnesia is suspected, a nurse would anticipate orders for neuroimaging (CT or MRI) to identify structural damage, bleeds, or tumors.
Nursing care for a patient with organic amnesia, particularly anterograde amnesia, involves implementing safety measures (e.g., preventing falls, wandering) and using memory aids like whiteboards, journals, and consistent routines to reduce confusion and anxiety.
What if? If a patient develops amnesia after a psychologically traumatic event but all brain scans are normal, the diagnosis would shift towards psychogenic (or dissociative) amnesia, and the treatment would focus on psychotherapy rather than medical management of a brain injury.

How to Approach the Question

First, identify the key terms in the question stem: 'Amnesia', 'brain injury', and 'damage'.
Recognize that the question is asking for a classification of amnesia based on its cause (etiology).
Analyze the options to see how they classify amnesia. 'Anterograde' and 'Retrograde' relate to the timeline of memory loss. 'Transient' relates to the duration.
The term 'Organic' in medicine refers to a condition caused by a detectable physiological or structural change in an organ.
Therefore, 'Organic Amnesia' is the only option that describes amnesia based on its physical cause (brain damage), directly matching the question's requirement.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Kaplan Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry-2022 (pp 1-3768 of 3768) pp. 798-800, 805-807