The 67-year-old’s family said the condition “affects his cognitive abilities”. The announcement has aroused great interest in aphasia, but what exactly causes it and what treatments are there to help those living with the condition? Unscripted – Listen now Aphasia, which is more common in people over the age of 65, is a condition that can make it difficult for people to speak, understand, read and write. Speech problems are a common symptom – many people with the condition make mistakes with the words they use. This may include choosing the wrong word or incorrectly assembling words. More than 350,000 people in the UK were living with aphasia in 2018. It is estimated that one in three people is affected by the condition after a stroke. Other common causes of aphasia include: severe head injury, brain tumor or progressive neurological conditions such as dementia. Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a rare type of dementia that affects speech and communication. Symptoms tend to get worse over time. PPA can be manifested by speech becoming more difficult to form, making mistakes with the sounds of words, speech becoming slower or more vague and forgetting the meaning of complex words. It is caused by clusters of abnormal proteins that form inside the brain cells, mainly in the front and sides of the brain, which control language and behavior. In 2016, it was announced that Terry Jones of Monty Python, who died in 2020 at the age of 77, had been diagnosed with the condition, which is a form of frontotemporal dementia. Monty Python star Terry Jones has died at the age of 77 in 2020. Credit: AP According to the NHS, the average survival time for people with frontotemporal dementia is about eight years after the onset of symptoms, but some people live much longer. Someone with expressive aphasia may have difficulty communicating their thoughts and ideas and may have difficulty with daily tasks – such as using the phone or writing an email – as their speech and writing may also be affected. A person with receptive aphasia has difficulty understanding things he hears or reads. People with the most common types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, usually have a mild form of aphasia, according to the NHS. Currently, speech therapy is the main type of treatment for people with aphasia. The aim is to help people restore communication functions and find new ways of expressing themselves. The majority of people diagnosed with the condition from a single event recover at least to some degree with treatment. However, there is less chance of recovery for those with aphasia resulting from a progressive neurological condition, which causes damage to the brain and nervous system over time. Where to get support if you have aphasia:
Say Aphasia is a charity that offers advice to people with the condition and hosts social events to help people connect. Speak with IT aims to improve the well-being of people with aphasia and their caregivers. The Stroke Association has useful information on communication tools and support available.
