Katie Couric Reveals 7-Hour Memory Loss, Diagnosed With Transient Global Amnesia

Q: What did a recent Colorado study reveal about high altitude triggering the rare amnesia that struck Katie Couric?

It has not been established from the available reporting that high altitude triggers the rare amnesia Katie Couric experienced. The news coverage says Couric wondered whether Aspen’s altitude, along with dehydration, fatigue or stress, may have played a role in her transient global amnesia, or TGA. But it also makes clear that the cause of TGA remains poorly understood and that medical literature does not definitively identify altitude as a trigger. A recent Colorado study did examine TGA at high altitudes. The study, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health, was described as investigating the incidence and risk factors of TGA at high altitude. However, the material provided here does not include the study’s actual findings or any conclusion that altitude itself causes or triggers TGA. So the most accurate takeaway is that Colorado researchers recently studied the possible link, but the reporting available in this case does not show that the study proved high altitude was a trigger. For now, altitude remains a suspected factor in Couric’s case, not a confirmed cause.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 8

Katie Couric said a June 27 episode at the Aspen Ideas Festival left her unable to recall the month, year, president or two panels she had just appeared on.
An MRI found no stroke, and doctors diagnosed transient global amnesia — a sudden, temporary condition that blocks new memories and often resolves within 24 hours.
Couric said the gap from about noon to 7 p.m. remains a permanent blank spot, while her husband described her repeatedly asking why she was in the hospital.
Three to eight people per 100,000 experience TGA, with adults over 50 at higher risk; experts say possible triggers include exertion, emotional stress, temperature swings or migraines.
Couric said she was relieved the episode was not more serious, while doctors urged anyone with sudden memory loss or other stroke-like symptoms to seek immediate medical care.