The month of June has several important awareness issues featured within its 30 days. One of those important issues is aphasia. This is a speech or language disorder that is caused from complications in the brain. Often times, the symptoms of aphasia can be confused with that of dementia. However, there are differences between the two disorders.

Language Vs. Concept

A person suffering from aphasia has trouble with finding the right words in conversation, much like someone who has dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. However, there are subtle variances when it comes to communication issues while searching for the right words. Someone with aphasia knows what they’re trying to say. The concept or main idea of their conversation stays with them. What they struggle with is being able to communicate it.

However, a person with dementia may lose sight on what they are trying to say. Both individuals are reaching deep into their brain in order to find meaning or purpose in what they want or what they want to say. A person with aphasia will be able to work around the word with it on the tip of their tongue. However, those with dementia will not. As they begin searching for ways to say the same thing, they lose concept of what they want to say. It causes them to be sidetracked. For a person with aphasia, finding a synonym within their lexicon is helpful. For a person with dementia it is not. It can divert their attention away from what they wanted to some other thought. This is troublesome, because a person who has dementia may get sidetracked and forget to inform their loved one that they are hungry, thirsty, etc.

Behavior

To understand the difference between behaviors in a person with dementia versus someone who has aphasia, it’s important to understand the meaning of each word. Dementia is Latin for “madness.” This implies a state of serious memory loss to a point where normal actions such as eating or drinking are incredibly difficult. The term aphasia means “speechlessness” in Greek. Therefore, a person with aphasia can still operate functionally when it comes to day-to-day activity. They do not need help getting dressed, bathing, or eating. People with aphasia only have difficulty when it comes to speech and conversation.

The brain is an interesting organ. Almost every other organ in our body has one specific job. Our heart pumps blood through our body. Our stomach digests food we eat. Our pancreas produces insulin to absorb sugars in our body. The brain, however, is completely sectioned off. Each tiny part of our brain has a different job. For people who have aphasia, their section of the brain that controls speech is damaged. This is usually due to a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Dementia is much different. Although it can be caused by a stroke or brain injury, more often then not, it is caused by a buildup of amyloid plaque. This occurs in the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s makes up about 60 to 70% of all dementia cases. You may be wondering, what does a buildup of amyloid plaque do to the brain? In almost every case, it cuts off your neurons, and your neurons are very important because they help relay messages from one part of your brain to another. When neurons get cut off this results in atrophy to the brain. As a result, it’s not simply the speech section of the brain that gets affected; the whole brain does.

Here is where differences in behavior occur. A person with Alzheimer’s disease cannot function properly due to deceased neurons in their brain. Their memories are unable to be accessed, and these memories can include faces they used to recognize, how to hold a fork, and even meanings behind specific words. It causes significant problems to their speech and everyday life. In contrast, a person with aphasia just has problems accessing the part of their brain that deals with speech. They can still recognize familiar faces and remember past events. They can still properly hold a fork and eat on their own.

Diagnosing the Issue

These subtle differences can help you when it comes to diagnosing you or a loved one. By understanding the signs and symptoms of both disorders, you or your loved one, with help from a doctor, can begin to narrow down the issues. Are you simply having trouble with conversation? Or is your daily life being affected? By being able to answer these questions, you might be able to recognize the main cause of your concerns.