Aphasia
Source: MedlinePlus Health Topics, U.S. National Library of Medicine
What is aphasia? Aphasia is a language disorder that makes it hard for you to read, write, and say what you mean to say. Sometimes it makes it hard to understand what other people are saying, too. Aphasia is not a disease. It's a symptom of damage to the parts of the brain that control language. The signs of aphasia depend on which part of the brain is damaged. There are four main types of aphasia: Expressive aphasia is when you know what you want to say, but you have trouble saying or writing your thoughts. Receptive aphasia affects your ability to read and understand speech. You can hear what people say or see words on a page, but you have trouble making sense of what they mean. Global aphasia is the loss of almost all language ability. You can't speak, understand speech, read, or write. Anomic or amnesia aphasia is when you have trouble using the right words for certain things, people, places or events. In some cases, aphasia may get better on its own. But it can be a long-term condition. There's no cure, but treatment may help improve language skills. What causes aphasia? Aphasia happens from damage to one or more parts of the brain involved with language. The damage may be from: Stroke , which is the most common cause of aphasia Brain tumor Brain infection or inflammation Brain injury Other brain disorders or neurologic diseases that affect the brain and get worse over time, such as dementia Who is more likely to develop aphasia? Anyone can have aphasia at any age, but most people with aphasia are middle-aged or older. Most aphasia happens suddenly from a stroke or brain injury. Aphasia from a brain tumor or other brain disorder may develop slowly over time. How is aphasia diagnosed? If a health care provider sees signs of aphasia, the provider will usually: Test the person's ability to understand language and speech. This includes asking questions and checking to see if the person can follow simple commands. Order an imaging scan to see if there's a brain inju