Aphasia: Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment

Types Of Aphasia

According to theNational Aphasia Association, these are the types of aphasia [3].

• Global aphasia – This is the most severe form of aphasia caused by injuries to many language-processing areas of the brain. These brain areas help in understanding spoken language, accessing vocabulary and using words and sentences. Patients with global aphasia produce few recognisable words and understand little or no spoken language. They also can neither read nor write.

• Broca’s aphasia – It is also known as non-fluent or expressive aphasia which occurs as a result of damage to the left frontal area (speech and language areas) of your brain. People with Broca’s aphasia find difficulty in speaking fluently. They speak in short, incomplete sentences and find difficulty to find the right words to speak. They may also understand what others are speaking and may be able to read but can’t write.

• Mixed non-fluent aphasia -People with this type of aphasia do not have fluent speech, impaired language comprehension and they can’t read or write.

• Wernicke’s aphasia – It is also known as fluent or receptive aphasia. In Wernicke’s aphasia, the damage is caused to the middle left side of the brain, an area that is responsible for processing the meaning of words and spoken language. People with this type of aphasia can’t grasp the meaning of spoken words and sentences and they can’t read or write. They also tend to speak long, complex sentences that have no meaning and include incorrect words.

• Anomic aphasia – It is a mild form of aphasia. The person often speaks fluently and produces grammatically correct sentences but it includes vague words. They can understand what others are speaking and can read well.

• Primary progressive aphasia (PPA)– This type of aphasia is caused by neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease or frontotemporal lobar degeneration. A person with this type of aphasia has speech and language problems.

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Symptoms Of Aphasia

• Having difficulty in speaking

• Speaking short, incomplete sentences

• Speaking sentences that don’t make sense.

• Speaking incorrect words.

• Struggling to find the appropriate word.

• Unable to understand other people’s conversation.

Complications Of Aphasia

Aphasia can deteriorate the quality of your life and can cause problems where communication is required, affecting work and relationships. And this can cause emotional distress, depression and social isolation due to improper language function [4].

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Diagnosis Of Aphasia

Speech pathologists can help diagnose aphasia resulting from stroke. They perform a complete examination of the person’s communication skills, which includes speaking, expressing ideas, understanding language, reading and writing. This helps in identifying the strengths and weakness of communication.

Treatment Of Aphasia

Depending on the types of aphasia, the treatment is performed. However, speech and language therapy is effective in treating patients with aphasia. A study showed that 33 hospitalised patients with subacute stroke who had 16 sessions of speech and language therapy for 30 -60 minutes a day, twice a week for eight weeks continuously showed an improvement in reading and listening comprehension, oral motor evaluation, automatic speech and repetition and naming words and also there was fluency in speech [5].

Common FAQs

Q. Can aphasia come on suddenly?

A. Aphasia often occurs suddenly after a stroke or a head injury, but it can also occur slowly from a brain tumour or a progressive neurological disease.

Q. What happens to people with aphasia?

A. A person with aphasia can have trouble in speaking, reading, writing and understanding language.

Q. Who is at risk for aphasia?

A. While aphasia is most common in older adults, however, it can occur in people of all ages, races and gender.

Q. Does aphasia affect a person’s intelligence?

A. No, a person with aphasia will have difficulty in communicating, but intelligence won’t get affected.

Q. Can a person recover from aphasia?

A. Yes, you can completely recover after stroke, but if the symptoms of aphasia last longer than two to three months after a stroke, there are decreased chances of recovery.