Aphasia: treatable disease?
Fortunately, aphasia is a curable disease for many patients: however, each individual responds in a subjective way to therapies, since the language disorder, as we have seen in the previous articles, can occur through many facets. Consequently, it is not possible to accurately estimate the timing of healing from aphasia: the duration of the therapeutic cycle depends on the subject, the age of the patient, the cause that caused the aphasia and the chosen therapeutic option. This concluding article is aimed at the treatment of ataxia therapies according to the main guidelines, drawn up to help the ataxic patient to coexist in a serene way with the disease.
Care
As can be guessed, most of the ataxics are hospitalized, not so much because of the ataxia itself, but rather because of the cause that triggered it (eg stroke and brain damage in general). After hospital discharge, the aphasic patient needs further treatment, which can last for several weeks, months or even some years in cases of greater severity. In most of the aphasias, the ataxic patient heals faster during the first three months of therapy, immediately following the brain injury.
The aphasics are subjected to cycles of speech therapy, aimed at correcting or restoring the aphasic symptomatology; hopes for improvement of symptoms or complete recovery from the disease also depend on the possibility of accessing specific rehabilitation facilities.
The aphasic patients are treated through a targeted communication rehabilitation . In this regard, a distinction must be made based on the severity of the disease: the therapeutic strategy undertaken by subjects suffering from mild aphasia is directed towards the " care of thoughts " rather than words. For the most serious aphasics, on the other hand, the therapy is more complex and problematic, because the patient shows disturbances both in translating words into thought, and in turning his thoughts into words. In this regard, frequent linguistic approaches (eg repetition of words) are recommended, in addition to learning therapy through visual, tactile and linguistic stimuli [taken from www.msd-italia.it/] .
In some cases, linguistic-cognitive and pragmatic-communicative therapies are necessary, particularly useful for the treatment of aphasia resulting from stroke.
In some patients - especially those suffering from non-fluent forms of aphasia - a marked difficulty in reacquiring linguistic abilities was found; in similar situations, a communicative rehabilitation through images and figures is recommended.
Clinical evidence
Although many authors consider ataxia a disease that is difficult to cure in a short time, it seems that targeted and continuous rehabilitation can produce extraordinary results. The clinical evidence shows, in fact, that the regularity of language rehabilitation is essential for a good prognosis, even for those elderly patients who start therapy long after the onset of the disease.
In some cases of mild aphasia, the patient recovers all language skills without the need for targeted rehabilitation therapy.
Recent clinical studies have shown that bilingual patients with aphasia relatively quickly regain the ability to speak and communicate with their mother tongue; the second language, on the other hand, is only difficult to recover.
The simple figure of the doctor, although indispensable, is not sufficient to cure the aphasic patient: in fact, patients also need family support, in order to ensure a continuous, regular and lasting help.
Aphasia: reflections
Language, the ability to articulate, to understand what other people say, to write, to produce meaningful expressions are simple actions, obvious for most human beings: few are aware of the preciousness and importance of language. Only when this gift is denied can its value be fully appreciated. Just think of the difficulties in understanding the language of a foreigner: sometimes, even knowing the language, communication is difficult and limited.
When the brain is unable to translate thought into words and words into thought, the possibility of exposing oneself, telling about oneself, ordering a coffee, thanking, expressing one's emotions, apologizing, asking help: aphasia demolishes the possibility of feeling life.
These are only small examples, useful to understand how aphasic disorder is complex and problematic: the negation of communication is a debilitating torment in all respects.
