Signs and types of aphasia, the causes of appearance, treatment
Aphasia is a pathological condition associated with disorders of the structures of the central nervous system and is expressed in a violation of the ability to express thoughts, speak, and understand speech. The skills of reading and writing are also lost. There are different types of aphasia, which are classified depending on the localization of the lesion and the nature of the change in speech.
Why is the disease
The most common causes of destruction of the cortex of the speech center are circulatory disorders in the brain( various types of strokes).But often aphasia can cause:
- Neoplasms of the brain;
- Operational interventions;
- Inflammatory processes( encephalitis);
- Progressive degenerative diseases( Pick and Alzheimer's diseases);
- Craniocerebral injury.
Risk factors for the disease are senile age, hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart defects.
What is aphasia?
According to the accepted classification, forms of aphasia can be:
- Efferent motor aphasia.
- Dynamic.
- Afferent motor aphasia.
- Sensory.
- Acoustically-mnestic.
- Optical-mnestic.
- Semantic.
- Amnestic.
Detailed description of each of their types of this complex disease makes it possible to correctly diagnose, determine further tactics for the treatment of such a disorder and a prognostic assumption of the likelihood of recovery.
How aphasia manifests itself depending on its kind
Symptoms of aphasia can be very diverse, reflecting the complex structure of speech. Some lose the ability to understand written words( alexia), while others are noted for their inability to recall the name of objects or the inability to pronounce them( anomie).
The difference between aphasia and dysarthria should be clearly understood, in which a person has a problem in clearly pronouncing words or phrases. Dysarthria is associated with the defeat of the central nervous system, responsible for the work of muscles and coordination of organs that are part of the voice apparatus.
In severe changes, aphasia manifests itself in the patient's perfect inability to talk. In a lighter version, it is expressed in impoverishment of speech and its telegraphic style. Sometimes there is a lack of proper structuring in the construction of phrases, the absence of declensions or conjugations in speech. Often, the disease manifests itself in a permutation in the pronounced word of individual letters or syllables.
Patients may have speech incontinence( logoreia), substitution of one word for another, which sounds similar in sound, but has a completely different semantic content( this option is called paraphasia).Global paraphasia provides for a complete replacement of one word by another without any similarity between them.
Signs of aphasia Wernicke( with damage to the temporal lobe) - a fast and completely meaningless speech, which is a set of words, your own speech flow is not controlled with complete misunderstanding of the speech of others. There is also the possibility of writing, but the ability to read remains.
Aphasia Broca is accompanied by a normal understanding of the patient's sense of words, both spoken by others, and spoken by himself, but his speech is difficult, stretched and filled with interpreting interjections.
Different types of aphasia are reflected differently when trying to talk in such patients. The sensory form differs in that, with absolutely normal functioning structures that determine hearing, it is not possible to determine the meaning of what has been said by another person in the patient.
Semantic aphasia is characterized by a lack of understanding of the written text( acalculia).
Definition of aphasia
Patients with aphasia need to carefully collect an anamnesis, realizing that this type of disorder is due to the disease. With a long-term ongoing process, which is accompanied by personality changes, one can assume in the old age about the disease of the Pico or Alzheimer's. If there is a need, then a family history and a thorough questioning of relatives are conducted. It should also assess the mental state of the patient, and conduct research on neurological symptoms.
In order to diagnose this disease, it is necessary to involve many specialists - speech therapists, neurologists, psychologists. Of the additional methods of the study, MRI or CT scan of the brain, MR angiography, UZGD of blood vessels, diagnostic tests, verifying the patient's ability to oral or written speech are used.
Often differentiated aphasia occurs not only with dysarthria, but also mental retardation, deafness, and in childhood with alalia.
Ways to overcome the ailment
Overcoming aphasia is a rather lengthy process that requires a common effort on the part of the relatives of the patient, himself, and treating specialist doctors. Achieving success with this disease depends to a large extent on the patient's age, severity of brain damage and speech function.
Speech reconstruction is much slower and harder to compare with normalization of other functions, such as motor function.
In clinical practice, there are cases of self-healing speech without the use of specific methods, but this occurs with unimpaired lesions and a young patient's age. However, violations that occur at 6-7 years of age in children are accompanied by severe consequences, and lead to a complete loss of speech skills.
All options for how to treat aphasia describe in detail quite hard, because with each individual case there may be a different tactic and technique. But there are certain general principles that can significantly alleviate the condition of a patient with a similar diagnosis:
- It is mandatory to constantly involve a patient in a conversation.
- Maintaining all kinds of communicative communication.
- When talking, you should try to communicate with a person in the same style as before the illness.
- It is necessary to be patient, not to interrupt the patient, and to give him the opportunity to independently construct the phrases and suggestions of his conversation.
- Speech classes should be conducted with a good and positive mood of the patient, without creating additional difficulties for him, and only in the case when the physical state of a person can do it.
With aphasia there are special exercises that help the patient to restore his abilities and speech structure faster. These classes are conducted with a speech therapist in the presence of relatives who are directly engaged in caring for the patient and then can help him in the performance of tasks already in the absence of a doctor nearby.
If there is a need, the lessons continue with the specialist at home and the tasks performed by the patient are gradually complicated. Quite good results are given by music therapy, when a patient who finds it difficult to pronounce long sentences is offered to sing his favorite song or read a poem.
The most important thing in the treatment of aphasia is to understand that the earlier you start the process of speech restoration, the faster and more efficiently you can succeed.
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