Rs Neurology

Problems or difficulties with speech can come in different forms, and you might experience them regularly or only occasionally. These speech difficulties can indicate that you might have a certain neurological disorder, and they should not be ignored.

Aphasia, dysarthria and apraxia of speech are neurological conditions affecting speech that can occur at the same time in a person.

Aphasia is a condition where an individual has difficulty communicating or understanding both verbal and written language. If you experience aphasia, you may also encounter troubles with reading and writing. Aphasia often results from damage to portions of the brain that are responsible for language.

Dysarthria is a condition where the muscles used in speech are damaged, paralysed or weakened. People with dysarthria may be difficult to understand when they speak. They might only be able to communicate in short words or phrases, or even be completely unintelligible.

People with dysarthria can experience the following symptoms:

• Slurred, slow speech
• Nasal sounding or breathy speech
• Inability to control speech volume
• Strained, hoarse voice
• Monotone speech
• Difficulty moving tongue and facial muscles

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a condition in which you might have difficulty coordinating complex oral movements needed to enunciate words. If you have AOS, you will have trouble speaking correctly and consistently, although you might know exactly what you want to say.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a long-term neurological degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system, that affects 1% of all people over 60 years old. The most common MS symptoms affect the motor system, like tremors in the hands and fingers, however as the disease develops, you might also start to experience more symptoms, like soft or monotone speech, inability to control speech volume and slurred speech.