Zhao Lusi posted a message to announce her illness. What exactly is the "aphasia" she suffers from?

Recently, actress Zhao Lusi was hospitalized for aphasia, which attracted attention. On January 1, 2025, Zhao Lusi posted a long article in response to her condition. One of the photos showed that Zhao Lusi weighed only 36.9kg at the time.

According to previous media reports, Zhao Lusi was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment on December 18, 2024. At that time, she was paralyzed in a wheelchair. In addition to aphasia, even walking became difficult. She had to undergo rehabilitation training in the future, and her work had to be put on hold.

It’s not just the loss of language skills

In fact, aphasia is not an independent disease, but a symptom caused by damage to the language center of the brain. Zhang Zhaoxu, chief physician of the Department of Neurology at Peking University People's Hospital, said that aphasia is a problem with the language center of the patient's brain when the pronunciation organs are normal, resulting in obstacles to language functions including listening, speaking, understanding, writing, naming, and repeating. Among various causes, emotions occupy an important position.

"When patients develop aphasia symptoms, it often indicates the onset of a serious illness. For example, the most common cause of aphasia symptoms due to damage to the cerebral cortex is acute cerebral infarction. If the area of ​​cerebral infarction is relatively large, it will affect the language center and cause aphasia," he said.

Emotions are the invisible driving force behind aphasia

Emotional factors play an important role in the onset of aphasia. Negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, depression, etc. in life, accumulated over a long period of time, may become the "fuse" that triggers damage to the language center of the brain.

When people experience significant stress, neurons in the brain may become inhibited, leading to difficulties with language expression. This is because stress releases a hormone called cortisol, which affects areas of the brain associated with language processing, such as Broca's and Wernicke's areas, reducing activity in these areas.

Symptoms of depression and anxiety have been shown to interfere with cognitive function, including language ability. These emotional states can take up the brain's processing resources, making language processing more difficult.

Classification and causes of aphasia

Aphasia can be roughly divided into three categories according to different manifestations: motor aphasia, sensory aphasia and mixed aphasia. Patients with motor aphasia may be unable to speak or speak unfluently, while patients with sensory aphasia can speak but cannot understand the speech of others, and mixed aphasia has both.

There are many causes of aphasia, the most common of which are cerebrovascular diseases such as acute cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. In addition, some brain trauma may damage brain tissue related to language function, which can cause aphasia. Usually, temporal lobe trauma often causes sensory aphasia, and parietal lobe trauma often causes dyslexia. Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (such as multiple sclerosis), autoimmune encephalitis, viral encephalitis, central nervous system vasculitis, and mitochondrial encephalopathy are also potential causes. Especially in young people, neuroimmune diseases have become a cause of aphasia that cannot be ignored.

In addition, some types of aphasia may have familial clustering and are related to specific gene mutations. These gene abnormalities can affect the functional areas of the brain and lead to decreased language ability. At the same time, brain degeneration caused by intracranial tumors, brain parasitic infections, Alzheimer's disease, etc. can affect the language center and cause different types of aphasia.

From prevention to treatment

When it comes to aphasia, prevention is better than cure. The key to preventing aphasia is to prevent its primary causes, such as controlling risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and avoiding accidents such as brain trauma. Smoking and excessive drinking can significantly increase the incidence of stroke, thereby increasing the risk of aphasia, so quitting smoking and controlling alcohol intake can effectively reduce such risks.

At the same time, psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression may also affect brain health and indirectly increase the risk of aphasia. Negative emotions are an important cause of aphasia. Identifying emotions is not just about knowing when you are angry, happy or sad, but more importantly, understanding the reasons and triggers behind these emotions. Try to keep an emotional diary, spend a few minutes every day reviewing your mood changes, and analyze what events or situations triggered these emotions. This can help us capture emotional signals more keenly, so that we can take measures to adjust in advance.

Seeking support is not just about talking, but also about building an emotional network of mutual understanding and support. Maintain open and honest communication with family and friends, let them understand your emotional state and needs, and provide help in a timely manner.

Although aphasia is a serious language disorder, it is entirely possible for patients to recover some or all of their language abilities through scientific treatment and rehabilitation training. Therefore, it is very important to seek medical attention in a timely manner once aphasia symptoms are found. Modern medicine treats aphasia through medication, language rehabilitation training, and treatment targeting specific causes. At the same time, improving sleep quality and stabilizing emotions are also important parts of the treatment process.

Source: Jiangsu News Network, Health Times, 39 Health Network, Medical Union Media, Science Herald, Guangdong Health Information, Zhao Lusi Weibo