The struggle a person with svPPA goes through to communicate their desires.
Semantic variable progressive aphasia (svPPA) is categorized as a type of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). These types of diseases are holistically due to the progressive loss of nerve cells in either the brain's frontal or temporal lobes. More specifically svPPA affects a person's cognitive skills. This disease dramatically affects reading, writing, speech and processing skills.
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| Diagram displaying areas of the brain where FTD and svPPA are present. |
svPPA is a neurodegenerative disease but it is not hereditary. Symptoms of the disease include anomia, reduced word comprehension, impaired recollection or memory, dyslexia or dysgraphia, and reduced speech production. As stated previously svPPA is a progressive disease which means the symptoms get progressively worse. It initially starts as a language disorder but can progress to also include behavioral, social, and/or motor issues.
Semantic variable progressive aphasia is traced to the temporal lobe. The temporal lobe is the part of the brain that is responsible for speech and language. svPPA is caused by the build up of TDP-43, a protein on the temporal lobe. TDP-43 is built under normal conditions and it is currently unknown why it forms in large amounts in a certain area of the brain. TDP-43 buildup in high amounts in brain cells in the temporal lobe cause those cells die, which then causes the temporal lobe to shrink.
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| An experiment showing where svPPA is present in the brain. |
I was born at the end of 2001 and in my seventeen years the science field advancements have been unprecedented like the Human Genome Project which was completed in 2003. Despite the strides the science community has taken there is still major work to be done, especially in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. This means that there is no cure for Semantic Progressive Aphasia or any type of Aphasia. As of right now anyone with svPPA will never be the same as the day before... the progression is inevitable. This inevitability means that as of right now there are no successful medications to slow the progression.
Diseases like Alzheimer's and aphasia are often portrayed in movies, tv shows and commercials but it never occurred to me that one of my family members would ever be affected by such a thing. My grandmother was diagnosed with svPPA two years ago, but her neurologist felt she was in the middle stages of the disease. My immediate reaction was "at least it is not dementia." I was obviously misinformed. These horrible diseases should not be compared as both rob people of what seem like the most basic skills.
My grandmother, Gigi, can sometimes be hard to deal with and can maybe be a little bit of a curmudgeon but everyone has their flaws. She is loving, funny, and caring, amongst other great qualities. Gigi and my grandfather moved to Florida about 30 years ago which means I only see them a couple times a year but this does not stop me or my fellow family members from remaining in constant communication with them. Weekly phone calls and texts were the forms of communication. Talking to my grandmother has become a lot harder but even more important since her diagnosis. Aphasia has made our conversations turn from complex and enthusiastic to basic and elementary. This does not mean that I enjoy our conversation any less it just means that our talks mostly center around the weather and what I have been up to. While I enjoy talking to my grandmother, it is very different. I worry that eventually I will hang up the phone and that will be the last time she will ever be able to talk to me.
The simplest things like ironing (which my grandmother used to love), texting, or writing out a check have become burdensome and frustrating because of svPPA. There is no way to prevent the disease and no way to stop it. The only thing to do is to spend as much time talking to my grandmother as possible.
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