Concussion

This describes a condition caused by a severe blow to the head or a fall. The term is generally used to describe a temporary altered mental status without lasting physical effects. It is characterized by symptoms such as dizziness, loss of consciousness, slow breathing, and weakened pulse, vomiting, pallor and fall in body temperature. There may be visual disturbances and confusion. Concussion may also be accompanied by amnesia about events immediately before and after the head injury. Amnesia is described as being retrograde and anterograde. Retrograde amnesia describes loss of memory for events leading up to the injury. Anterograde amnesia describes loss of memory of events after the injury. There is a correlation between the duration of memory loss and the degree of severity of concussion