HWN Suggests

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA): What you need to know

Want to help someone who is living with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA)?

Here’s what NOT to do:

• DON’T interrupt or ‘guess’ a word they’re trying to find – unless they ask for your help.
• DON’T pretend to understand what they’re saying if you don’t – ask them to repeat it instead.
• DON’T correct or point out every mistake they make.
• DON’T ask open questions such as, ‘what would you like to drink?’ Instead, offer a choice, ‘would you like tea or coffee?’ which they should find easier to answer. You could use picture flashcards to help.

read full article

Featured

 Lost for Words

A disease called primary progressive aphasia gradually robs people of their language skills while leaving their minds intact.

 Understanding aphasia, the condition impacting Bruce Willis' acting career

Medical experts say the impacts of aphasia can vary, depending on the person's diagnosis. But mainly, the condition affects a person's ability to communicate — whether it's written, spoken or both.

Articles of Interest

Essentials of Primary Progressive Aphasia

Primary progressive aphasia is diagnosed when other mental faculties such as memory for daily events, visuospatial skills (assessed by tests of drawing and face recognition), and comportment (assessed by history obtained from a third party) remain relatively intact; when language is the only area of major dysfunction early in the disease...

I have received a PPA diagnosis. What next?

As the symptoms of PPA can vary from person to person, it may be hard for people with PPA to receive the correct diagnosis. This can be frustrating and distressing. By increasing awareness and understanding of PPA, we hope to ensure that healthcare professionals and communities are better equipped to support people affected by a diagnosis of PPA.

One Couple’s Journey with Primary Progressive Aphasia

The symptoms of neurocognitive disorders like PPA, Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease tend to overlap, so diagnosis is difficult.

Primary progressive aphasia and the evolving neurology of the language network

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is caused by selective neurodegeneration of the language-dominant cerebral hemisphere; a language deficit initially arises as the only consequential impairment and remains predominant throughout most of the course of the disease.

What is Primary Progressive Aphasia?

While symptoms of PPA can vary, most people will notice subtle changes in their language skills over time, most typically trouble remembering common words when speaking or writing.

Resources

The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is characterized predominantly by the gradual loss of the ability to speak, read, write, and understand what others are saying.

National Aphasia Association

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a neurological syndrome in which language capabilities become slowly and progressively impaired. Unlike other forms of aphasia that result from stroke or brain injury, PPA is caused by neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease or Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration.