Integrative Flashcards
What is the difference between speech and language?
speech = how we say sounds and words
language = the words we use and how we use them
How can communication be improved wiht patients who have speech and language difficulties?
use simple language one topic at a time give more time use gesture, drawing, writing use adult language write down key words closed questions don't pretend to understand
Define dysarthria
speech disorder caused by disturbance of muscular control.
Define dysphasia
impaired ability to understand or use the spoken word.
It is due to a lesion of the dominant hemisphere and may include impaired ability to read, write and use gestures.
Define receptive dysphasia
difficulty in comprehension,
language that is fluent with a normal rhythm and articulation but it is meaningless
they fail to comprehend what they are saying.
Define expressive dysphasia
difficulty in putting words together to make meaning
not fluent and have difficulty forming words and sentences.
There are grammatical errors and difficulty finding the right word.
In severe cases they do not speak spontaneously but they usually understand what is said to them.
What is meant by the term dominant hemisphere and what is its clinical significance
The speech area is in the left, dominant side of the brain in about 99% of right-handed people.
In left-handed people, the right hemisphere is the dominant side in only 30%.
As a general rule, a lesion of the left hemisphere will cause dysphasia
What deficits will a lesion in the non dominant hemisphere cause
neglect, visuo-spatial and cognitive problems.
define dyspraxia
partial loss of the ability to co-ordinate and perform skilled, purposeful movements and gestures with normal accuracy
can affect:
Gross and fine motor skills.
Motor planning and the organisation of movement
Speech and language
Ability to carry out activities of daily living.
At what age does idiopathic parkinson’s disease most commonly start
between the ages of 55 and 65 years
What causes idiopathic PD
progressive neurodegenerative condition resulting from the death of dopaminergic neurones of the nigrostriatal pathyway.
This pathway goes from the pars compacta of the substantia nigra to the striatum. It acts to stimulate the cerebral cortex to initate movement and fine tune movement.
Therefore, when this pathway degenerates there are problems in initiating movement and fine tuning movement.
What are the key characteristics of PD
tremor
rigidity
bradykinesia
Describe the tremor in PD
Pill rolling – thumb over fingers
4-6 cycles/second
Worse at rest
Describe the rigidity of PD
increase in resistance to passive movement that can produce a characteristic flexed posture in many patients.
Cogwheel
Describe the bradykinesia in PD
Slow to initiate movement Slow, low amplitude repetitive actions eg. Blinking, micrographia, monotonous speech Gait! - Decreased arm swing - Festinance - Freezing at obstacles and doors Expressionless face
What is festinance
- Shuffling gait with flexed trunk
Give some other symptoms associated with PD
- Depression
- Dementia
- Poor decoding of emotional content of speech
- Poor executive functioning
- Visual hallucinations
- Reduced sense of smell
- Dribbling of saliva
- Frequency/urgency
- Constipation
Give the key characteristics of the gait in PD
- Reduced stride length - shuffling
- Hesitancy - difficulty starting and turning
- Lack of arm swing
- Unsteadiness – tendency to fall forwards or backwards
- Freezing at obstacles and doors
How many steps are there in the diagnostic criteria for PD
three
What is step 1 in diagnosis of PD
Bradykinesia (slowness of initiation of voluntary movement with progressive reduction in speed and amplitude or repetitive actions)
and at least one of the following:
• Muscular rigidity.
• 4- to 6-Hz resting tremor.
• Postural instability not caused by primary visual, vestibular, cerebellar or proprioceptive dysfunction.
What is step 2 in diagnosis of PD
exclusion criteria:
- History of repeated strokes with stepwise progression of Parkinsonian features.
- History of repeated head injury.
- History of definite encephalitis.
- Oculogyric crises. = dystonic reaction to certain drugs or medical conditions characterized by a prolonged involuntary upward deviation of the eyes
- Neuroleptic treatment at onset of symptoms.
- More than one affected relative.
- Sustained remission.
- Strictly unilateral features after three years.
- Supranuclear gaze palsy.
- Cerebellar signs.
- Early severe autonomic involvement.
- Early severe dementia with disturbances of memory, language and praxis.
- Babinski’s sign.
- Presence of a cerebral tumour or communicating hydrocephalus on CT scan.
- Negative response to large doses of L-dopa (if malabsorption excluded).
- Exposure to MPTP.
What is step 3 of diagnosis of PD
supportive prospective criteria. need 3 or more for diagnosis of PD
- Unilateral onset.
- Rest tremor present.
- Progressive disorder.
- Persistent asymmetry affecting the side of onset most.
- Excellent response (70-100%) to L-dopa.
- Severe L-dopa-induced chorea.
- L-dopa response for five years or more.
- Clinical course of ten years or more.
- Hyposmia. = reduced ability to smell
- Visual hallucinations.
