Why do strokes cause aphasia

Want more tips? Megan S. She is an international speaker, writer, and educator on the use of technology in adult medical speech therapy. Megan believes that technology plays a critical role in improving aphasia outcomes and humanizing clinical services. Here are 9 amazing online resources for you to explore and share to help raise awareness about aphasia.

Read More. Follow these aphasia communication tips to offer support and communicate better. And please share so we can all learn more about this all-too-common communication problem that affects more than just language. Learn about the 4 types of acquired communication disorders that may affect the way a stroke survivor speaks. Find out what you can do once you understand what's happening.

Damage to the brain can result in problems in every area of life. Learn more about the types, causes, and effects of brain injury, as well as how SLPs can help to recover function.

Dysphagia means difficulty swallowing. Learn more about the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of dysphagia for people with swallowing disorders. Find out the types, causes, how to prevent a stroke, how to spot one happening, and what happens afterwards as survivors try to recover through rehabilitation. Dysarthria, or slurred speech, is common after stroke or in neurological disorders like Parkinson's.

Apraxia of speech is common after a stroke, leaving the patient with impaired communication. After a stroke, brain injury, or in dementia, communication can suffer along with cognition. Learn why and what to do for cognitive-communication disorders. PPA is a type of dementia that gradually impairs the ability to use language over time.

Global aphasia is the most severe and devastating type of aphasia. Learn what it is and how you can better communicate with a person who has global aphasia. Fluent aphasia is a disorder with effortless but largely meaningless speech. Learn what it is, see a video, and find out how to help Wernicke's-type aphasia. Learn what Broca's aphasia is, see a video of what it sounds like, and find out how to help a person with the frustrating condition of expressive or non-fluent aphasia.

A step-by-step guide to visual scanning treatment, an evidence-based cognitive therapy technique to improve visual attention for right or left neglect. What is Aphasia? Someone with aphasia may have difficulty doing some or all of the following: Understanding what other people say Using the right words to express a thought Reading aloud or silently Writing or typing Using gestures Drawing pictures Using numbers or doing math.

What Causes Aphasia Aphasia is usually caused by stroke. What You Might Notice There are 3 main types of aphasia. Severe mixed aphasia Global Extreme difficulty both understanding and producing language. If You Have Aphasia While you may have feelings of isolation, you are not alone. Meanwhile, here are a few tips many people with aphasia find helpful: Minimize background noise.

Turn off the TV and talk in a quiet room. Think about what you want to say before you say it. Use facial expressions, gestures, writing, and pointing to help get your message across. Go easy on yourself.

You are trying your best, and talking is hard work for a person with aphasia. Avoid important conversations when you are feeling tired or emotional. It usually does not cause any permanent damage. However, having a TIA is a risk factor for having a stroke in the future.

A TIA is sometimes called a mini-stroke. Strokes are very common. Due to better medical treatments, more people are surviving strokes. However, stroke survivors are likely to have physical disabilities and communication impairments.

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Approximately one-third of people who have a stroke will experience aphasia.

Both areas are typically found in the left hemisphere of the brain, though they can be on the right side for a small percentage of people. Aphasia following a stroke is usually at its most severe right after the stroke. Aphasia tends to get less severe spontaneous recovery in the days, weeks and months following a stroke. Other causes of brain injury are severe blows to the head, brain tumors, gunshot wounds, brain infections, and progressive neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.

There are two broad categories of aphasia: fluent and nonfluent, and there are several types within these groups. Damage to the temporal lobe of the brain may result in Wernicke's aphasia see figure , the most common type of fluent aphasia.

People with Wernicke's aphasia may speak in long, complete sentences that have no meaning, adding unnecessary words and even creating made-up words. For example, someone with Wernicke's aphasia may say, "You know that smoodle pinkered and that I want to get him round and take care of him like you want before.

As a result, it is often difficult to follow what the person is trying to say. People with Wernicke's aphasia are often unaware of their spoken mistakes. Another hallmark of this type of aphasia is difficulty understanding speech. The most common type of nonfluent aphasia is Broca's aphasia see figure. People with Broca's aphasia have damage that primarily affects the frontal lobe of the brain. They often have right-sided weakness or paralysis of the arm and leg because the frontal lobe is also important for motor movements.

People with Broca's aphasia may understand speech and know what they want to say, but they frequently speak in short phrases that are produced with great effort. They often omit small words, such as "is," "and" and "the. For example, a person with Broca's aphasia may say, "Walk dog," meaning, "I will take the dog for a walk," or "book book two table," for "There are two books on the table. Because of this, they are often aware of their difficulties and can become easily frustrated.

Another type of aphasia, global aphasia, results from damage to extensive portions of the language areas of the brain. Individuals with global aphasia have severe communication difficulties and may be extremely limited in their ability to speak or comprehend language. They may be unable to say even a few words or may repeat the same words or phrases over and over again.

They may have trouble understanding even simple words and sentences. There are other types of aphasia, each of which results from damage to different language areas in the brain. Some people may have difficulty repeating words and sentences even though they understand them and can speak fluently conduction aphasia. Others may have difficulty naming objects even though they know what the object is and what it may be used for anomic aphasia.

Sometimes, blood flow to the brain is temporarily interrupted and quickly restored. When this type of injury occurs, which is called a transient ischemic attack, language abilities may return in a few hours or days. Aphasia is usually first recognized by the physician who treats the person for his or her brain injury. Most individuals will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging MRI or computed tomography CT scan to confirm the presence of a brain injury and to identify its precise location.

The physician also typically tests the person's ability to understand and produce language, such as following commands, answering questions, naming objects, and carrying on a conversation.

If the physician suspects aphasia, the patient is usually referred to a speech-language pathologist, who performs a comprehensive examination of the person's communication abilities.