STROKE
Stroke is a medical emergency. Know these warning signs of stroke and teach them to others. Every second counts:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Call 9-1-1 immediately if you or someone near you experiences symptoms!
www.strokeassociation.org
APHASIA
a•pha•sia (uh-fay'-zhuh) n. An impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually acquired as a result of a stroke or other brain injury.
What is Aphasia?
Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person's ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence. Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.
What Causes Aphasia?
The most common cause of aphasia is stroke (about 25-40% of stroke survivors acquire aphasia). It can also result from head injury, brain tumor or other neurological causes.
How Common is Aphasia?
Aphasia affects about one million Americans -or 1 in 250 people- and is more common than Parkinson's Disease, cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. More than 100,000 Americans acquire the disorder each year. However, most people have never heard of it.
Who Acquires Aphasia?
While aphasia is most common among older people, it can occur in people of all ages, races, nationalities and gender.
Can Aphasia be Cured?
One can be 'cured' from stroke but the effects of aphasia can be long lasting. The good news that with focused therapy the outcomes are generally progessively good and that people with aphasia can lead rich lives.
The National Aphasia Association
An educational organization providing essential information for stroke and brain injury survivors, their families, caregivers and communities.
www.aphasia.org
The Aphasia Handbook, A Guide
The Aphasia Handbook is a unique guide designed to give people with aphasia better access to information about health issues, being in the hospital, getting the most from rehabilitation and therapy, getting support at home and in the community, finding a way through the benefits maze, support groups, rights, choices, and legal concerns.....
"The Aphasia Handbook is an essential resource for people with aphasia and their families. It is beautifully clear, well-organized, and sensitively written -- a most valuable guidebook to living creatively with aphasia." Oliver Sacks, MD, author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Awakenings.
Available at www.aphasia.org
or call 800-922-4622 to order or to ask questions.
