The family of Hollywood actor Bruce Willis, 67, recently announced that the actor would quit the movie and take a step back from his career as he contracted conditional aphasia, which affected his cognitive ability. “As a result, and with a lot of consideration, Bruce is moving away from a career that means a lot to him,” his family said in a statement. Do you know what Aphasia is? It is a state of communication that causes problems in one’s ability to speak or understand. It can also affect their ability to read and write.
It is important to know that aphasia can be of different types. Some people with aphasia may have difficulty understanding language due to damage to the temporal lobe, which affects how words and language are processed in their brain. Some people may simply have difficulty speaking, which means damage to the frontal lobe. Loss of both the ability to speak and language indicates damage to both the large temporal lobe and the frontal lobe. Onlymyhealth spoke to the editorial team
Types of aphasia
According to Dr. Ruchi, here are some examples of aphasia:
1. Expressive aphasia: Expressive aphasia is also called broccus or nonfluent aphasia. People with this type of aphasia understand better than other people can say. People with this aphasia pattern have difficulty getting words out of their mouths, speaking very short sentences, and eliminating words.
2. CUniversal aphasia: People with this type of aphasia who are called fluent or Wernicke’s aphasia may be able to speak long sentences easily but they will not have any meaning or will contain unfamiliar or unnecessary words. Usually, they do not understand the spoken language properly and do not understand that others are not able to understand them.
3. Global Aphasia: Symptoms of global aphasia pattern such as poor comprehension and difficulty in making words and sentences. This pattern is caused by a large loss of language network in the brain. People with global aphasia have a wide range of disabilities in terms of expression and comprehension.
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Symptoms of aphasia
Almost everyone who suffers from aphasia has difficulty finding the names of the things they know, but can’t find the names. And that’s why they have trouble using words in sentences. Here are the main symptoms of aphasia:
- Speaking short or half sentences
- Say alternative words instead of appropriate words
- Saying sentences that have no meaning
- Saying unfamiliar or non-existent words
- Not being able to understand what others are saying
- Writing sentences that have no meaning
The cause of aphasia
In most cases, aphasia is caused by a stroke or bleeding in the brain. It can also be due to traumatic injury such as a car accident or brain damage from a brain injury. Brain tumors can also cause aphasia.
There is another variant of the condition called early progressive aphasia. It may initially show mild symptoms but may get worse over time. A team of experts and doctors do not know what causes early progressive aphasia. This condition also affects areas of the same brain as in cases where aphasia may be due to stroke or bleeding, but the onset of symptoms follows a different path.
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Treatment of aphasia
To diagnose aphasia, the doctor will probably take a physical and neurological examination, find out about your strengths, feelings and reflections, and examine the vessels of your heart and your neck. He or she conducts an imaging test, most likely an MRI, to quickly identify the exact cause of the aphasia.
If the brain damage is mild, the patient can regain his or her language skills without any treatment. However, most people need to go through speech and language therapy to regain their language skills and improve their communication experience. Here are some common treatments that can be used:
- Speech and language therapy
- Medicine
- Stimulation of the brain
A person with aphasia needs the support of family and friends. It is important for the patient not to think that they are abnormal or not able to function like everyone else. They lack only a few cognitive abilities. The loved one should take proper care of the patient at home and try to understand the condition.