Can Mind-Blowing Sex Cause Amnesia?

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Unless you've been sexually deprived or really repressed, everyone's had mind-blowing sex; at least I'd hope so. That being said, there was a recent report that not only is this healthy, but believe it or not, can wipe your mind completely clean.

Don't believe me? Referring to the case of a 54-year-old Washington, D.C.-area woman should convince you otherwise. She was taken into the Georgetown University Hospital last September, complaining that she couldn't remember the previous 24 hours.

However, coincidentally enough, the last thing did recall before her memory went blank was wild sex with her husband. The hospital did its due diligence and discovered that the woman suffered from transient global amnesia, a rare condition in which memory will immediately, yet temporarily, disappears, which occurred due to her night between the sheets (or likely more than that.)

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Fortunately, people who have global amnesia don't suffer any side effects, unless you count short-term memory loss. The problems generally go away within a few hours. Have no fear; this condition is super rare and affects only about three to five people per 100,000 each year.

Researchers don't have a clear-cut explanation for why this happens but they do have a few theories. Believe it or not, the brain isn't the main culprit for the memory loss but in your neck.

In a study led by Dr. Sebastian Ameriso, a neurologist at the Institute for Neurological Research in Buenos Aires, looked at sonograms of the necks of 142 patients who'd experienced transient global amnesia within the last week.

They found that 80 percent of the patients had what is called insufficiency of the valves in the jugular vein, which runs down the side of the neck, carries spent blood from the brain back to the heart. Thus, when you when you suffer memory loss, it's because the valves in your brain aren't closing sufficiently, and blood could seep back upward and the subsequent memory loss.

What was conclusive in Ameriso's study is that this is more likely to happen to those in their 50s and 60s rather than their younger counterparts. That being said, if you just had a crazy night of sex with your partner and are feeling woozy, don't fret -- you aren't having a stroke or any other type of neurological snafu.

But be careful. Mind-blowing sex is awesome, but not being able to remember anything afterward is a bit of a boner-killer.