MamasHealth.com Home Brain and Nerve Conditions Aneurysm Aphasia Brain Tumors Cerebral Palsy Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Coma Concussion Creutzfeldt-Jacob Dyslexia Encephalitis Epilepsy Head banging Heal headaches Hydrocephalus Kernicterus Lou Gehrig's disease Meningitis Migraines Multiple sclerosis Parkinson's disease Strokes Syncope Vertigo Links Email Mama Migraine Cure My Achy Breaky Head Personal story about battle with migraines Supporting a family on one income	What is Aphasia? Aphasia is a language disorder that results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language. For most people, these are parts of the left side of the brain. Aphasia usually occurs suddenly, often as the result of a stroke or head injury. However, aphasia may also develop slowly, as in the case of a brain tumor. Aphasia impairs both the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing. Aphasia may co-occur with speech disorders such as dysarthria or apraxia of speech, which also result from brain damage. What Causes Aphasia? Aphasia is caused by damage to one or more of the language areas of the brain. Often, the cause of the brain injury is a stroke. A stroke occurs when, for some reason, blood is unable to reach a part of the brain. Brain cells die when they do not receive their normal supply of blood, which carries oxygen and important nutrients. Other causes of brain injury are severe blows to the head, brain tumors, brain infections, and other conditions of the brain. Types of Aphasia There are three main types of aphasia: Broca's aphasia Individuals with Broca's aphasia have damage to the frontal lobe of the brain. These individuals frequently speak in short, meaningful phrases that are produced with great effort. Broca's aphasia is thus characterized as a nonfluent aphasia. Affected people often omit small words such as "is," "and," and "the." For example, a person with Broca's aphasia may say, "Walk dog" meaning, "I will take the dog for a walk." The same sentence could also mean "You take the dog for a walk," or "The dog walked out of the yard," depending on the circumstances. Individuals with Broca's aphasia are able to understand the speech of others to varying degrees. Because of this, they are often aware of their difficulties and can become easily frustrated by their speaking problems. Individuals with Broca's aphasia often have right-sided weakness or paralysis of the arm and leg because the frontal lobe is also important for body movement. Wernicke's aphasia Individuals with Wernicke's aphasia may speak in long sentences that have no meaning, add unnecessary words, and even create new "words." Individuals with Wernicke's aphasia usually have great difficulty understanding speech and are therefore often unaware of their mistakes. These individuals usually have no body weakness because their brain injury is not near the parts of the brain that control movement. Global aphasia Global aphasia, results from damage to extensive portions of the language areas of the brain. Individuals with global aphasia have severe communication difficulties and may be extremely limited in their ability to speak or comprehend language. How is Aphasia treated? In some instances an individual will completely recover from aphasia without treatment. When treatment is necessary, the most common treatment is therapy designed to improve an individual's ability to communicate by helping the person to use remaining abilities, to restore language abilities as much as possible, to compensate for language problems, and to learn other methods of communicating.	Your product featured on MamasHealth.com Sign up for our Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust
	Hot Topics: Domestic Violence: A pre-existing condition? Serena: The wanna be vegetarian Personal Story: How I recovered from my Eating Disorder Mama wants to help: Food Bank programs and shelter assistance Lucy Goes Green: Talk dirty to me How to avoid Swine Flu What no one will tell you about tummy tuck surgery Mama's favorite item of the week: Trees for the Future Foods for weight loss Win a Gift Bag filled with Goodies from Stonyfield
	Information obtained from MamasHealth.com™ should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner, nor should it be inferred as such. Always check with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about a specific condition. Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use. Contact us: PO Box 2170, Pasadena, CA 91102-2170 ©2000 - 2009 MamasHealth, Inc.™. All rights reserved