Primary Progressive Aphasia
What is Primary Progressive Aphasia?
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a progressive disorder of language. It begins with subtle degenerative cognitive changes. Initially, the majority of the patients exhibit near normal mental (attention, memory, reasoning, and thinking) functions. They also preserve their ability to engage in their daily living activities. The first language signs of PPA are a difficulty in recalling or speaking common words. As the condition progresses, mental functions decline and eventually patients experience difficulty in using language to a point where they lose their ability to speak. Most commonly, the PPA emerges in individuals under the age of 55-65.
Patients with PPA may show one or more of these symptoms:
- Slowly articulated speech, resulting in reduced verbal output
- Difficulty in recalling words and the names of people
- Gradually increasing difficulty in speaking and comprehension
- Problems in writing and comprehending simple written information
There is no single cause of PPA. A variety of brain abnormalities, including certain forms of dementia like frontal-temporal-limbic degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease have been identified with PPA.
