Скачать или смотреть What is Aphasia?

Aphasia means a loss of speech, but “in reality it means loss of communication.”

Lee Health Family Medicine Physician Dr. Ravi Ramaswami said there are multiple forms of aphasia. “It can be receptive aphasia, where you’re not able to comprehend or understand what some person is talking to you. It can be expressive aphasia, where the person is not able to express themselves and maybe not even able to communicate by writing.”

It can be frustrating for those experiencing it. “People may have problems word finding or they speak in jumbles. They may not make too much sense as they actually string together the words,” said Dr. Ramaswami.

This year it forced movie star Bruce Willis to retire from acting. “He had to wear an earpiece, so somebody was prompting him the lines, his behavior had changed. So it wasn’t that he woke up one day and suddenly he couldn’t talk or he had Aphasia, this is a gradual process,” said Dr. Ramaswami.

There are several causes of Aphasia. “The most common cause is stroke, and then you can have it in conditions degenerative conditions like dementia,” said Dr. Ramaswami. Treatment can be difficult, but it can be done through speech and language therapy. Dr. Ramaswami said it’s important for you to see your primary care physician, because they may be able to spot some early warning signs.



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