"A heart attack took away my speech and another gave me back"



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  People Speak

BBC

Peter lost the ability to speak at age 73.

Peter lost the ability to speak after a stroke in 2014. He was 73 years old.

But one morning, at the beginning of this year, woke up to be able to speak again.

Shortly after, he discovered that he had had another heart attack.

Would the heart attack have made the speech? The day Peter found his speech, he was on vacation in Devon (England) with his family.

"I woke up as usual." Carol was on the other side of the bed, I got up and started talking to her as if that was not the case. nothing has happened. "

" She was shocked, she said: Peter! You speak! "

Carol remembers that she encouraged him to keep talking just in case he would lose the He speaks again.

His son, Jonathan , who was in the next room, heard two He chatted and hurriedly entered the room.

"What's going on, Mom?" he asked. "Who is this deep voice? ? "

" Your father speaks! ", Carol replied,

" We all started crying and laughing at the same time. It was very moving, because we had been so long without hearing his voice ".

  Illustration of the structure of a neuronal or nerve cell.

Getty Images [19659017] "The brain is like a network and a stroke" brings out some of the nodes of the brain. network language. "

The shock was such that no one remembers the words spoken by Peter for four years.

At the Hospital

Everyone went out to celebrate, but soon Carol realized. The left side of Peter's mouth was lowered.

Later, he began to complain about a weak leg, he had trouble walking and his son Jonathan had to hold him in his arms.

They took a taxi to the nearest hospital, where they had a scanner that confirmed that had another stroke. [19659005] Fortunately, ] the negative effects were only temporary this time.

Peter's mouth returned to normal and his legs stopped hurting him. And months later, still able to speak.

The couple is convinced that this second c Heart attack "releases" something into Peter's brain, something that prevented him from speaking since the first heart attack. 19659005] However, Alex Leff, professor of cognitive neurology and expert in language recovery after stroke or brain injury, is not so convinced of this theory.

"The brain is like a red and a stroke" extracts "some of the language nodes of the network."

  Preparation for a transplant [19659028] Getty Images </footer>
</figure>
<p><figcaption>  The family went to a hospital, where she confirmed that Peter had another stroke. </figcaption></p>
<p>
  "In many cases, patients reorient certain language functions using what is left in the brain, but when they have had serious language problems, such as Peter, <strong> are you n slow process, not sudden </strong> </p>
<p>
  According to the doctor, Peter's case is <strong> very rare. </strong></p>
<hr/>
<h3>
  Aphasia </h3>
<ul>
<li>
  Aphasia is the technical term that refers to the language or speech difficulties that a person may experience after a stroke or other brain injury. </li>
<li>
  There are several different types. </li>
<li>
  People with Broca aphasia (or non-fluid aphasia) can only use expressions of less than four words and even this requires a lot of effort. The person may well understand the speech and can read, but his writing is usually limited </li>
<li>
  People with anomic aphasia have trouble finding the words of the things they want to speak or write, especially nouns and verbs. They understand speech and, in general, read well. </li>
<li>
  On the other hand, Peter had no problem reading or writing during the four years he could not speak. </li>
</ul>
<hr/>
<h3>
  The First Heart Attack </h3>
<p>
  Carol J was with Peter <strong> when he had his first heart attack. </strong> </p>
<p>
  They were gone, but Peter did not feel well, so Carol brought them back. </p>
<p>
  "I asked him what time he was and he did not answer me, I asked him again and nothing … Something was wrong. <strong> When you are married to someone one for 52 years, you know something is wrong </strong>"says Carol. </p>
<p>
  Then, over a period of several weeks, <strong> little by little, Peter felt his abilities to speak, he disappeared. </strong> </p>
<p>
  "It was getting harder and harder for me to have a proper conversation," he says. "It was hard for me to find words and I could not say a whole sentence." </p>
<p>
  "In the end, it was impossible for me to speak, I could only say <strong>" yes "and" no "and sometimes a very short sentence." </strong> </strong> [19659005]  Carol found it distressing to see her husband, a retired engineer whom she describes as an "intelligent and eloquent man," <strong> unable to speak. </strong> </p>
<p>
  The whole family <strong> shares this anguish. </strong></p>
<h3>
  Conversations </h3>
<p>
  Although he can not form words, Peter says that he has always been able to understand everyone's conversation. </p>
<p>
  "I've always known exactly what was happening around me. <strong> Not being able to converse with people is horrible </strong>," says Peter. </p>
<p>
  The couple developed a system to communicate with each other. </p>
<p>
  Carol asked yes / no and Peter would respond with a thumbs up or down gesture. <strong> He also had a pencil and notebook to write what he meant. </strong> </p>
<p>
  Peter is very interested in photography, so if they go to a camera store and want to ask a technical question, he wrote in advance. </p>
<p>
  During his years of silence, Peter often spent the day reading or working on mathematical models. Carol remembers that she always wrote algorithms and equations in notebooks. </p>
<p>
  Peter says the relief of being able to talk again is overwhelming. <strong> When we talk almost in tears </strong> </p>
<p><figure><img decoding=

Getty Images

The brain is the most complex biological structure of our body.

"Disappeared"

"Power communicating with others is part of the human being.If you can not speak, you lose a lot of yourself. My family felt that it's a good thing. she was gone . "

" You can not convey true emotions if you can only say yes or no . "

His family tried to say" yes " include in conversations and make him laugh, but it was not the same thing.

What cost him the most was listening to people saying things he was not doing. I accepted it.

"I found it very frustrating not being able to participate in the discussions, it was like losing all the fights," Peter said.

Once he could have spoken, his first big debate with his Friends was about Brexit . "They said to me: 'I'm glad you're back!'

Peter's speech is almost perfect, apart from some difficulties when he is tired at night. But everyone pointed out that his accent had changed.

"People say that my accent is much more elegant," says Peter.

Carol admits that she was so used to talking to him that must now get used to it. again to Peter who speaks for himself.

"It's a habit," she says. "I have to learn to shut up! I've had a monopoly in recent years."

But both worry that Peter may lose his speech again.

"It's like a clock that works after being hammered. I could have another blow and stop working anytime ," says Peter.


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