Knowing Aphasia, a Brain Disease That Attacked Bruce Willis
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| Foto: Bruce Willis (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) |
Actor Bruce Willis had to end his career in acting because he was diagnosed with aphasia. The disease left the 67-year-old actor with a breakdown in thinking.
So what is aphasia?
According to SehatQ, aphasia is a condition that interferes with a person's ability to communicate. This condition can affect the ability to speak, write, and understand spoken and written language.
This communication barrier usually occurs suddenly after a person has had a stroke or head injury. However, this condition can also happen gradually due to a slow-growing brain tumor. The gradual appearance of aphasia can also be caused by diseases that provoke progressive and permanent (degenerative) damage.
People with aphasia have problems understanding and using language, such as reading, listening, speaking, typing or writing. People with aphasia often make mistakes with the words they use. Aphasia can occur on its own or in conjunction with other disorders, such as difficulty seeing, mobility problems, weakness of the limbs and problems with memory or the ability to think.
Aphasia is usually caused by brain damage to the part that processes language and speech. Some of the causes of this condition include:
- Brain tumors
- Infection
- Dementia or neurological disorder
- Degenerative diseases
- Head injuries
- Stroke
The case can also be temporarily caused by a seizure, migraine, or a mild stroke.
Types of Aphasia
1. Global aphasia
Global aphasia is the worst type of aphasia. People with global aphasia have difficulty speaking, not even being able to understand the interlocutor.
Global aphasia usually occurs due to a stroke or head injury. But when the condition improves, the sufferer will return to the mildest type of aphasia.
2. Aphasia Wernicke
People with Wernicke aphasia can speak but cannot construct well-organized sentences. In addition, Wernicke aphasia can also interfere with a person's ability to write and read.
3. Broca aphasia
People with Broca aphasia need extra effort to string together sentences. Usually, they can only say three to four words when they speak. In addition, people with Broca aphasia also have difficulty finding the correct vocabulary.
4. Aphasia anomie
People with anomic aphasia have difficulty finding words they want to use. As a result, they get around this by using obscure vocabulary. Even so, people with anomic aphasia can understand speech and read well.
5. Primary progressive aphasia
Primary progressive aphasia is a rare condition. Primary progressive aphasia is another form of dementia, so the sufferer loses the ability to speak, write and read.
Once the cause is addressed, the primary treatment of aphasia is speech and language therapy. People with aphasia will relearn and practice language skills and learn to use other ways to communicate.
source: https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/lifestyle/20220330110829-33-327169/mengenal-afasia-penyakit-otak-yang-menyerang-bruce-willis
