What are the symptoms of primary progressive aphasia?


Quick Answer

The symptoms of primary progressive aphasia depend on its variant and the situation, and they include difficulty comprehending spoken or written words, difficulty repeating phrases or sentences, and making errors in speech sounds, notes Mayo Clinic. A person with the condition may have no trouble speaking in casual conversation but struggle and pause frequently during conversations that require more precision.

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Full Answer

Primary progressive aphasia is a rare neurological disorder that impedes language skills, causing those with the condition to have difficulty expressing themselves and comprehending language, explains Mayo Clinic. The condition progresses slowly, but it worsens over time, and some patients may lose their ability to speak and understand written or spoken language.

There are three types of primary progressive aphasia, according to Mayo Clinic. Patients with semantic variant primary progressive aphasia experience symptoms such as difficulty with comprehending the meanings of words and naming objects. Frequent pausing while speaking, slow speech and difficulty retrieving the proper words are symptoms of logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia. People with nonfluent-agrammatic variant primary progressive aphasia may use grammar incorrectly, make errors in speech or have difficulty speaking.

Atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain causes primary progressive aphasia, and people who have learning disabilities, certain gene mutations or family members with the condition are at higher risk of contracting the disorder, notes Mayo Clinic.

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