At this moment in time, aphasia is affecting about or even more than
one million people in the United States. We think it may never happen to us
(especially because many people have never heard of it before), but in reality,
the onset of aphasia can happen suddenly and without warning. Put yourself in
the shoes of an aphasia patient—what would it feel like if you lost your
ability to speak and process language?
Victims are Thrust into a World
of Limited Communication
The reason people
may not realize or expect they are falling victim to aphasia is because this
disorder is usually a result of other medical conditions. Problems such as head
injuries, brain tumors, or strokes can lead to aphasia indirectly. In general,
these problems and any other circumstance that kills brain cells in the
language processing areas of the brain are the reasons why aphasia occurs. For
example, a stroke in the context of the brain means that there is a blockage or
rupture of a blood vessel in the brain. If such a rupture occurs near the
language processing centers, there is a lack of blood supply coming to these
areas of the brain, ultimately causing the death of the brain cells responsible
for one’s language function. Depending
on the extent to which this happens, the severity of aphasia can vary, but what
definitely occurs in every case is the fact that a person’s ability to
communicate is unfortunately hindered. After speaking with Dr. Jared M. Novick,
a researcher for the Center of Advanced Study of Language (CASL) at the
University of Maryland, we can see that a loss of language is a complex problem that of course involves anatomical issues, but also cognitive issues as well.Handicapping Effect of Aphasia Makes Treatment Important
Living with
aphasia makes it hard to go through day to day life especially because our
basic functions are inhibited. Reading, writing, expressing yourself—activities
we take for granted—become very difficult for a person affected. The very
things that we do to essentially survive become limited in ways that can be
inconvenient and uncomfortable. Depending on the type, aphasia can manifest
itself in four main ways:
- - Knowing what you want to say, but having trouble
saying or writing it
- - Hearing or reading words, but not being able to
make sense of them
- - Having trouble using the right terms for
objects, places or events
- - Not being able to speak, read, write, or
understand speech overall
Now imagine yourself having any one of the four possibilities…It would
be hard, right?
To cope with the effects of aphasia, patients are recommended to do
numerous things that include carrying a card around with them that says they
have aphasia and says what it is, having an identification card with phone
numbers of significant others, and carrying around a pencil and pad around at
all times. Not only this, but friends and
family have to be conscious of the way they communicate to the victim of
aphasia. For example, conversations should be kept one-on-one initially, and
sentences have to be slow and short. We’ve all maybe experienced the
frustration that comes with miscommunication so imagine having this obstacle on
a daily basis. Because of this many patients feel isolated emotionally and feel
embarrassed in public—it’s not that victims are not intelligent, they just
cannot communicate like they normally would. To prevent this scarring
experience, efficient treatment is necessary.
Current Treatments Work, But May
Take Long Time
In some mild cases, aphasia can recover their
language abilities without undergoing any treatment. While this is the
exception, most people have to undergo speech and language therapy to reinvent
their language skills and improve on their communication experiences. This
process is usually slow and even with therapy, pre-aphasia communication
capacity is rarely regained. Therapy with a speech-language pathologist has to
start soon after the brain injury or else it will not be as effective. When
speech therapy starts, the process starts with the most basic of
exercises—simple tasks such as naming objects build up to more complex
exercises such as determining the purpose of an object. Activities during
therapy also address how to communicate with gestures and drawings to
compensate for the language impairment. Novick points out though that while
individual one-on-one therapy is useful, the intention is to get the person
back and functioning in the real world so working in a group setting and
participating in outings that entail communicating in a real-life situation is
helpful.
What seems to be an effective way as well is to have a familiar friend
or family member be a communication partner which entails having the partner act less like a therapist and more
as a natural conversation buddy.
Certain drugs studied aim to speed up recovery by increasing blood flow to the brain and more efficiently replacing chemicals in the brain. The intended consequence is that by doing this, brain cells will heal faster and the re-learning process will be able to occur faster because there is better processing on the anatomic level. According to a study done by researchers at UT Southwestern’s stroke program, patients that were exposed to low-dose amphetamine half an hour before their speech-language therapy showed not only immediate sped up recovery, but a longer lasting effect too. The reasoning is that exposure to the drug increases the responsive of brain cells right before therapy, thus allowing learning to happen faster. Especially because patients are decreasingly going to rehabilitation, having these drugs ready and accessible would be more convenient for the patient. Novick cautions, however, that before such treatments are widely adopted, the clinical application should be clear.
Being Aware May Help the Patient's Experience
Current Research Looks at
Medicinal Drugs to Speed Up Recovery
As you can see,
traditional treatment methods seem long, frustrating, and limited. What
researchers are now saying and what Novick says in the following, is that what
seems to be effective are medicinal treatments alone, or in supplement with
speech therapy.
Certain drugs studied aim to speed up recovery by increasing blood flow to the brain and more efficiently replacing chemicals in the brain. The intended consequence is that by doing this, brain cells will heal faster and the re-learning process will be able to occur faster because there is better processing on the anatomic level. According to a study done by researchers at UT Southwestern’s stroke program, patients that were exposed to low-dose amphetamine half an hour before their speech-language therapy showed not only immediate sped up recovery, but a longer lasting effect too. The reasoning is that exposure to the drug increases the responsive of brain cells right before therapy, thus allowing learning to happen faster. Especially because patients are decreasingly going to rehabilitation, having these drugs ready and accessible would be more convenient for the patient. Novick cautions, however, that before such treatments are widely adopted, the clinical application should be clear.
Being Aware May Help the Patient's Experience
I think overall that to improve the experience of one afflicted with aphasia,
there needs to be more awareness. Social situations would be more comfortable
if there was a wider support system for these patients and a lot of the
emotional tension that comes with aphasia could be alleviated if people just
knew. To put into perspective the lack of education people have on this topic,
here is an audio clip from a non-expert…hopefully anything you learned here
will be shared for people to know!
