How to Treat Broca's Aphasia
Broca's aphasia occurs when a patient suffers a brain injury that results in damage to the frontal brain lobe that controls language capabilities. As a result, patients encounter extreme difficulty with written and spoken language and are frequently unable to complete a sentence without extreme exertion of effort. Read on to learn how to treat Broca's aphasia.
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Instructions
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Have a neurologist evaluate the exact location, nature and extent of the brain injury that initially caused the patient to develop Broca's aphasia. Brain injuries causing aphasia can result from both stroke and head trauma. The neurologist must quickly treat or at least stabilize, the physical injury to the brain for the best chances of recovery.
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Keep in mind that there are currently no surgeries or medical treatments available that will cure Broca's aphasia. Patients must undergo intensive language therapy with an eye to either retaining the language skills they still have or trying to recover as much as possible of what was lost.
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Consult a speech pathologist promptly upon the patient's return to consciousness. Therapy needs to take place as quickly as possible to give the person afflicted with Broca's aphasia the best chances of recovering his full speech and language capabilities.
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Hold out hope. In relatively mild cases of Broca's aphasia, the patient is able to make a full and complete recovery without treatment in the days and weeks following the head injury or stroke. However, even if the prognosis is good, the patient can still benefit from the treatments offered by a speech pathologist.
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Have a speech pathologist treat Broca's aphasia by administering tests tailored to the specific needs of the patient. Generally, these involve repetition, reading, writing, comprehension and direction-following exercises. The given exercises stimulate activity in the damaged part of the brain, attempting to reignite the synaptic connections that were damaged by the injury or stroke.
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Continue to treat the patient's Broca's aphasia by using computer-aided software that aims to help the afflicted individual communicate more efficiently and with less effort. Computer-based software is frequently used at home, in combination with regular visits to the speech pathologist.
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Tips & Warnings
Broca's aphasia is extremely challenging for the patient because brain functioning can be otherwise normal, except for the language difficulty. Group or individual therapy or counseling is encouraged to avoid the onset of depression.
