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Current Approaches to the Treatment of Post-Stroke Aphasia

Aphasia, impairment of language after stroke or other neurological insult, is a common and often devastating condition that affects nearly every social activity and interaction. Behavioral speech and language therapy is the mainstay of treatment, although other interventions have been introduced to augment the effects of the behavioral therapy

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 Aphasia, Caused by Stroke or TBI, is Frustrating and Little Known

To add to the frustration of the disease (or in some cases, its saving grace), usually aphasia does not affect a person's intellectual ability. So, a person with aphasia can possibly think perfectly fine, but has no means to communicate those thoughts.

 My crash course in aphasia, the debilitating loss of the ability to talk

When Helen Harris came round from brain surgery, she found she couldn’t even say her own name. She describes her slow recovery – and how to react to someone with the condition.

 What It's Like Living With Aphasia—and How to Support a Loved One With the Condition

Although there’s no cure, in sudden onset aphasia, speech therapy can improve patients’ ability to communicate over time. Rapp says that in patients who suddenly develop aphasia, the biggest improvements often happen in the immediate period after the disorder first appears, but patients can continue to improve even years later.

Articles of Interest

Acute aphasia. What is the likely etiology?

A 60-something man without significant past history presented after sudden onset of aphasia 45 minutes prior.

Bruce Willis Has Aphasia: What It Is and How You Can Prevent It

Aphasia is a condition that affects your ability to communicate that is caused by a brain disorder or trauma, but is most commonly associated with a stroke. In fact, aphasia is one of the main stroke symptoms.

Living with Aphasia

Stroke is the most common cause of language problems and aphasia in adults. According to the National Aphasia Association (2021), about 25%–40% of individuals who survive a stroke have aphasia as one of their disabilities.

Thoughts That Can’t Be Spoken

To prove to myself that I had not lost the capacity for remembering words, only that for expressing them, I began to recite in my head bits of literature I knew by heart.

Resources

3 Types of Aphasia That May Result From Stroke

Aphasia can occur as a result of any injury to the brain, such as a stroke, traumatic brain injury, a brain tumor, or an infection of the brain.2 Because of the way the blood vessels are arranged in the brain, the most common cause of aphasia is a stroke.