Aphasia

Aphasia is a dysfunction of speech caused by abnormalities in the brain. People with this condition are often mistaken in choosing, organizing and interpreting words into a correct sentence. Aphasia can also affect writing skills.

Cause.

• Injury and damage to the part of the brain that processes language. This disease generally attacks adults with stroke.
• In certain conditions, aphasia is a symptom of epilepsy or neurological disorders.

Injury or brain damage resulting in aphasia is caused by :

• Brain tumor.
• Infections that affect brain function (encephalitis or meningitis).
• Severe injuries to the head from falling from a height or accident.
• Diseases that cause brain cells to suffer damage (dementia or Parkinson's disease).

The symptoms.

• Receptive aphasia ➡ sufferers will find it difficult to understand what the other person is saying even though he can hear it clearly. So that communication responses from sufferers will be chaotic and difficult to understand.
• Expressive aphasia ➡ sufferers know what they want to talk to the other person, but it is difficult to say it.
• Primary progressive aphasia ➡ this condition causes loss of ability to read, write, speak and understand chat. Primary progressive aphasia is quite difficult to treat.
• Anomic aphasia ➡ sufferers have difficulty choosing and finding the right words when writing and speaking.
• Global aphasia ➡ is classified as the most severe aphasia and usually occurs when someone has just had a stroke. People with global aphasia are unable to read, write and have difficulty understanding the conversations of others.

In the long time, aphasia can cause interference :

• Worry.
• Depression.
• Feelings of isolation in sufferers.

Diagnosis.

• An examination of the severity of aphasia will be performed by a doctor or speech and language therapist.
• The check aims to obtain results from the patient's efforts in writing, reading, understanding, functional communication and verbal expression.
• Observation of brain structure to see how severe the damage is in the brain.
• MRI.
• CT scan.
• Positron emission tomography.

Treatment.

Aphasia treatment depends on :

• Aphasia type.
• Age.
• Cause.
• The size and position of damage in the brain.
• Aphasia sufferers who have a stroke are advised to follow speech therapy.

Medications for a combination of aphasia treatments :

• Bifemelane.
• Bromocripitine.
• Idebenone.
• Piracetam.
• Piribedil.