Aphasia, the loss or impairment of language caused by
brain damage, is one of the most common neurological symptoms after stroke.
Approximately one in every three or four patients who have acute stroke will
suffer from aphasia. Aphasia often results in significant disability and
handicap. It is a major obstacle for patients to live independently in the community.
While the main treatment for aphasia is speech and language therapies, the
effectiveness of these conventional therapies has not been conclusively proved.
Pharmacologic treatments involved in using drugs acting on catecholamine system
such as bromocriptine and dexamfetamine. Those drugs are effective in
alleviating some forms of aphasia after stroke but the adverse effects
sometimes surpass their beneficial effects.
Acupuncture has been used in stroke rehabilitation in Asian
countries for a very long time. Studies showed beneficial therapeutic effects
of acupuncture on patients with acute stroke aphasia. Recently researchers in Hong
Kong investigated the effects of acupuncture on chronic stroke aphasia and its underlying
mechanisms using non-invasive technique, functional magnetic resonance imaging.
They found a significant correlation between improved language scores and increased
brain activity in speech areas in the damaged hemisphere in chronic stroke
aphasia patients after 8-week acupuncture treatment. In another study,
acupuncture stimulation at the language implicated acupoint Sanyangluo (SJ8)
activated brain language areas of patients with chronic stroke aphasia whose
language was improved assessed by word generation task tests.
These studies suggest acupuncture may exert its
beneficial effects via its ability to activate specific brain language areas in chronic
stroke aphasia patients.
Reference:
Chau ACM et al., J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2010;3(1):53−57.
Li G et al., Complement Ther Med. 2011, Suppl 1:S49-59.
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