Here are some important facts about aphasia that you need to know. Even though aphasia is twice as common as Parkinson’s disease, people are not yet aware enough of the condition and what it means.
The Numbers
Over 1 million people in the United States are currently affected by aphasia according to the National Aphasia Association. Nearly 180,000 Americans acquire the disorder each year. That means we have an obligation to understand this disorder.
What Causes Aphasia?
Aphasia is a language impairment that happens when the language center of the brain is damaged. This can happen in three ways:
- Stroke. A stroke happens when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. This prevents blood from reaching part of the brain. When brain cells do not receive oxygen, they die.
- Brain injury. The brain can be damaged by trauma in an accident or a disease such as a brain tumors or encephalitis.
- Hemorrhage. If there is bleeding in the brain, the blood will damage the exposed cells.
Aphasia is a language impairment.
Aphasia is a loss of a loss of language. Someone with aphasia has difficulty using and understanding words. There are different types of aphasia. Each one affects speaking, writing and/or reading skills in a different way. Aphasia does not affect intelligence. Eyal Shulman, who has Broca’s aphasia works successfully in the diamond exchange in Tel Aviv.
Types of Aphasia
Some types of aphasia are more severe than others. Aphasia is divided into two broad categories: fluent and non-fluent. Damage to the temporal lobe (the side) of the brain may result in a fluent aphasia called Wernicke’s aphasia. People with Wernicke’s aphasia speak in long sentences that have no meaning. They add unnecessary words and even make up words. Broca’s aphasia is a type of non-fluent aphasia. People with Broca’s aphasia have damage to the frontal lobe of the brain. They frequently speak in short phrases that make sense. They find it hard to produce these sentences. Eyal, who is very family-oriented, expresses his priorities with the words “Family important.”
Aphasia and Isolation
We are social creatures and we build relationships by communicating with the people around us. Someone with aphasia has difficult communicating. This means that people tend to avoid interacting with them because it is simply too hard. This leads to social isolation and even depression.
There is no end to recovery.
Recovery of language skills is usually a relatively slow process. But do remember that it’s just a myth that a person who had a stroke has only one year to recover and after that there is no more improvement. Stroke survivors can continue to improve, with the right therapy, for the rest of their lives. The more the family is involved, the more greater the improvement and recovery. So never give up.