Speech recovery after stroke

Fedina

a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the

brain results in cell death.
There are two main types of stroke: ischemic and hemmorrhagic. If symptoms last less than one or two hours it is known as a transient ischemic attack or mini-stroke.
 

language disorder that affects the ability to communicate. It’s most

often caused by strokes in the left side of the brain, that controls speech and language. Aphasia does not affect intelligence. So, to be clear: cells die, speech ruined.

might seem hopeless, the right therapy always helps. Just give

it some time.

first few weeks after suffering a stroke often helps them

to make big improvements in their abilities. Research corroborates these observations, showing that patients who immediately work with a speech-language therapist have an increased opportunity to regain speech and other functions.

breathing while speaking. They practice planning out the breaths they

will take while speaking. After repeating sentences and breaths to themselves, they can practice with a supervisor, knowing better now when taking a breath is appropriate.

make it easier for stroke patients to make the proper

sounds and form words. It also helps to strengthen the neural pathways and the “muscle memory” of speech that patients can lose after having a stroke.

is difficult for aphasia patients. Have the patient practice repeating

similar sounds: “Ah, ay, at, al, ack… etc.” Practice saying this set many times in a row before moving to another set. This will exercise the mouth and tongue to practice forming sounds and words.

for some patients, other patients struggle with forming the word

that they’re thinking of. In order to strengthen the connection between words and things, they can quiz themselves by looking at pictures and practice saying the word the picture depicts.

patients. But many patients struggle with forming complete and correct

sentences. While the patient is practicing saying certain words and sounds, they should also try and construct sentences. That can be sentences that they read (if they have maintained reading comprehension post-stroke).

stop with saying words. It involves understanding what words to

say, how to say them, when to breathe, and how to form full sentences.
Also, it is very important to have other people, like family, helping the patient. Patients after stroke are very vulnerable, and it is critically important they have lots of support.

directed to a region in the right side of the

brain. TMS uses a handheld magnetic coil that delivers low-intensity stimulation.

we don’t have much of a choice. There are many

new studies coming every year, so maybe one day there will be a quick solution, but for now it is patience and caring.


Thanks for your attention!

Quality Care to the End of Life, Third Edition. Springer

Publishing Company. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-8261-5792-8. Archived from the original on 2017-08-03.
Brady MC, Kelly H, Godwin J, Enderby P, Campbell P (June 2016). "Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016 (6): CD000425.