{"id":8538,"date":"2019-08-01T09:53:11","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T09:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/?p=8538"},"modified":"2021-06-17T17:28:41","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T17:28:41","slug":"14-possible-causes-of-aphasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/14-possible-causes-of-aphasia\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Possible Causes of Aphasia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Aphasia is a condition where a person finds that they have slight or serious difficulty with either their language or their speech. It is most frequently caused by some type of damage to the left-hand side of the brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example would be following a stroke, but this list will go into each possible cause in much more detail. One of the main things that people with aphasia struggle with is understanding the 4 main ways in which people communicate, understand and use language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These 4 main ways are reading, listening, speaking and of course, typing or writing. It is a person\u2019s potential peaking problems that are perhaps the most obvious, and people with aphasia can tend to make many mistakes with the words they use and the sentences they try to string together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sometimes manifests as that person using the wrong sounds in a particular word, or as choosing the wrong word entirely, or even as putting words together incorrectly or in the incorrect order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Stroke<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the potential causes for aphasia is a stroke<\/a>, which is a medical condition whereby poor or restricted blood flow to the brain causes cells to die. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two main types of stroke, namely ischemic and hemorrhagic can both cause aphasia in a person that suffers the medical problem. Schematic is a stroke caused by a limited blood flow whereas hemorrhagic is due to bleeding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The symptoms and warning signs of a stroke are important to look out for as the earlier a stroke is detected and diagnosed, the less damage that it is likely to cause. Signs and symptoms of strokes can include things like an inability to move or feel any kind of sensation on one side of the face or body. It can also include things like problems with speech and hearing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person suffering from a stroke may be primarily concerned with the immediate danger to their health, but aphasia is a very real long term threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2. Severe head injury<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Severe head injuries happen every day to all different kinds of people, and for a huge array of different reasons. However a head injury<\/a> is sustained though, it is certainly true that it can cause aphasia to develop in a person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a good idea to discuss the many possible ways in which someone could expect to suffer a serious head injury so that the linkup between this type of injury and aphasia can be made a little more clearly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person can suffer a head injury from something as innocuous as walking through a low door frame and bumping their head, but a serious head injury is much more likely to be sustained following something like a high-speed road traffic accident or a sports injury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With any kind of head injury, especially one that is expected to be serious, it is always important to seek the advice of a medical professional at the earliest possible opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3. Brain tumor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A brain tumor<\/a> is something that can be extremely worrying and the immediate threat to life is obviously the major cause for concern for anyone suffering from this medical emergency, but the aftermath of a brain tumor is something that survivors have to confront at some point down the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphasia is one of the potential complications that a person who suffers a brain tumor may be susceptible to developing and usually, only time is a useful indicator as to whether or not this likely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the tumor occurs in the left-hand side of the brain, it is much more likely that a person will develop aphasia than if the tumor has developed in the right-hand side of the brain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people who have suffered a brain tumor and lived to tell the tale would probably confirm that every day of life after something like that is a blessing, and so perhaps aphasia is something they can face head-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4. Dementia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dementia <\/a>is a growing problem in the developed world, given the fact that people are tending to live much longer than they ever have before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advances in modern medicine have meant that people with a range of illnesses and impairments have much longer life expectancies, but with this longer life comes the increased risk of the development of other problems, with dementia being top of that list of potential problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a knock-on effect of health concerns, dementia can cause aphasia to develop in a person, making the experience of living with this illness all the more distressing for the sufferer and all the more sad for the sufferer\u2019s family, friends and close ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The confusion and lack of understanding that a person with dementia endures is only likely to be worsened by something which stops them from being understood, which is exactly what aphasia can do. Dementia is up there with the most common causes of aphasia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5. Over 65<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not really a cause of aphasia, simply being over the age of 65 is something that increases a person’s risk of developing aphasia<\/a>. There are plenty of people over the age of 65 who live and lead active and healthy lifestyles, whilst there are others who may experience complex and varied health issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphasia is just another potential problem to add to the list of possible illnesses and health-related issues that a person over the age of 65 can expect. As the body ages, we become more susceptible to a range of different illnesses, some much more serious than others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of these illnesses can directly target the left side of the brain and when this happens, a person can be vulnerable to developing problematic conditions further along the line, such as aphasia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might not seem fair that simply being over the age of 65 can be a type of cause or at least a contributing factor aphasia, but those are the cards we\u2019ve been dealt as humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6. Other progressive neurological conditions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In truth, there are so many different progressive neurological conditions that could have the potential to lead to a person developing aphasia<\/a>. Many of these conditions are easily diagnosable, with common symptoms and trademark warning signs, whereas there are some conditions that take a little more detective work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trouble with the more hidden conditions is that they can lie dormant and undetected for a very long time, sometimes for the course of a person\u2019s whole life, until the development of a condition like aphasia cast light on them and they become obvious for all to see, signalling the dawn of a new and complicated era in a person\u2019s life where they find their world turned upside down as they try to come to terms with the fact that they are now living with a progressive neurological disorder and all the things that come with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be tough to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7. Surgical accidents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It’s not something that anyone wants to talk about, but doctors and surgeons are prone to making mistakes, just as an ant fallible human being is. The difficulty that arises when a doctor or a surgeon <\/a>makes a mistake though, can often mean extremely serious consequences for the person on the receiving end of that mistake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some surgical accidents that could lead to aphasia include things to do with the anesthetic having a detrimental effect on the patent, whereas the most obvious type of surgery with the potential to lead to the development of aphasia is any kind of brain surgery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brain surgery is an extremely complex and sensitive type of surgery that is only ever considered when it is absolutely necessary and when all other conservative and exploratory options have been considered, tried and exhausted. The threat to the brain is obvious, as you’ve got scalpels and all sorts going on in there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8. Brain infection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An infection anywhere in the body is something that a person’s own immune system<\/a> will try to tackle head-on and beat, without the need for intervention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty of infections though, where antibiotics or even surgery are required to rid the affected part of the body from the infection that is blighting it. When an infection is left unchecked and untreated for any significant period of time, the threat of that infection-causing long-lasting damage becomes more real and when the infection affects major parts of the body, such as the brain, that very real threat becomes very serious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a number of different types of brain infections that have the potential to cause aphasia and it is nearly always the case that this is something that a person will develop later down the line, even after recovery, and so it is not always possible to determine whether just because a person has suffered from a brain infection, that they will then subsequently develop aphasia at some point in their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\r\n

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