APHASIA

H O L LY W O O D C O C K

DEFINITION
Aphasia is a communication disorder caused by damage to the left brain which is responsible
for processing speech and language.

CAUSE
Aphasia is caused by damage in the left brain that controls speech and language. The factor
responsible can be anything from a concussion, brain disease, or even a stroke.

SYMPTOMS
Individuals suffering from aphasia often have difficulty in understanding and producing speech.
When speaking, a person with aphasia can substitute words with another word related to
their intended choice, mix words around in a sentence, have difficulty in coming up with words
for what they want to say, and come up with fake words they associate with real ones. Some
people with aphasia also have a difficulty in processing speech, but this is usually in more
extreme cases. However, when it comes to their false interpretation of speech it is usually a
result of one of the following factors. It is either that the one speaking to the patient is
speaking too quickly, there is too much background noise, or there are too many people and
conversations taking place at one time. Just like understanding orally presented speech, in
extreme cases people with this disorder may also show error in their reading or writing. These
errors are usually spelling, pronunciation, and format related.

DIAGNOSIS
Aphasia is generally diagnosed when a patient has had a stroke or head injury that is being
examined. When the doctor, usually a neurologist, suspects the patient has aphasia they
performs multiple neurological tests on the subject. These tests are related to reading, writing,
verbal expression, non-oral communication, and auditory comprehension. If the patient cannot
pass a majority of these tests they are diagnosed with aphasia.

TREATMENT
In some cases no treatment is needed for Aphasia. However, this is only for cases in which the
damage to the left brain is temporary, meaning that this damage would have to be non-physical. For
most cases recovery requires some form of treatment that may not even restore the persons
entire comprehension and production of speech. A majority of patients must go through speech
therapy in which the person does multiple language exercises. These exercises are to help with
recovering lost communication abilities and strengthening remaining abilities. These exercises
include repeating words that are difficult to say and understand, maintaining natural conversations
that are suited for older people, using non-verbal communication, and using online resources
related to language such as word puzzles and games. Treatment for aphasia is very similar to physical
therapy for someone who has lost a limb or is recovering from an injury. So far physical treatment is
unavailable for more patients or is highly un-recommended due to the fact that brain surgery would
be required and more damage than repair may be done to the left brain.

RESEARCH/HISTORY
Just like any other kind of disorder, aphasia has been around for centuries and it is impossible
to determine when the first documentation of this disorder was made. However, in reference
to how long the issue has been studied it is safe to say that aphasia has been looked at in a
medical perspective for over thousands of years. Even early Egyptian doctors, dating back to
1700 b.c , recorded aphasia in a papyrus for medical research. Today doctors are still
researching aphasia today in associations such as the NAA/ National Aphasia association to
discover the exact symptoms and treatments for the disorder. This research includes studying
the different technicalities in aphasia cases to determine a common source of injury, cause, and
treatment for the disorder.

FUN FACTS
1-June is international aphasia awareness month
2-The number one factor damaging the left brain, resulting in aphasia, are strokes
3-An estimated one million people in the US suffer from aphasia
4-Aphasia was studied by the Egyptians
5-There are multiple types of aphasia including Wernicke's, Broca's, and Global aphasia
6-It takes nearly two years of therapy for aphasia to be completely, or nearly, treated
7-Almost 70% of patients feel that aphasia increases social isolation
8-Aphasia does not affect the intellectual properties of its host.
9-Average treatment requires 8 to 10 hours a week to be effective in getting rid of aphasia
10-It is estimated that almost 2,000,000 people will have aphasia in the US by 2020