Question Title: Speech Difficulties

Forum: Neurology Forum
Topic: Speech

Posted by ccf neuro M.D.* on September 13, 1997 at 17:01:35:

In Reply to: Speech Difficulties posted by Robin Riley on September 07, 1997 at 14:19:07:

My husband is 47 years old and we have been married for 9 years. When we
were first married, I noticed that he sometimes had a problem getting his
mouth to say the words he was thinking. He has gradually gotten worse in
that now he seems to have a problem formulating the sentence in his mind
and then a greater problem saying it. He does not stutter. It may be my
imagination, but he seems to be more forgetful than he used to be.

He has seen his doctor who sent him to a neurologist. The neurologist
ordered an MRI and found nothing to explain his problem and suggested that
he go back to his regular doctor.
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My husband is a letter carrier and has been for the last 18 years. He has
no problem remembering addresses.

We are at a loss as to which way to turn relating to his speech problem.
Any suggestions?

Thanks.
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Robin,

There are no serious neurological disorders to the best of my knowledge that cause isolated slowly progressive difficulty with wordfinding over a nione year time span with a normal MRI of the brain. If there is a history of dementia (Alzheimer's disease-like symptoms) at an early age in your husband's family, it may bear further watching. Otherwise the most likely thing would be a slowly growing benign tumor in the left temporal lobe of the brain (assuming your husband is right handed), which is unlikely if a normal MRI with contrast was obtained--- usually there would be an abnormaility on examination by the neurologist that would tip her or him off to any serious problem. As always in medicine, there are always unique cases of symptoms that have no known explanation or official name, and it may be that your husband has such a thing. Unless his trouble speaking or remembering things progresses to a point that it is causing him to not function normally at work or socially, or some other dterioration in his lifestyle, I think the normal testing and examination by the neurologist sound very reassuring. By the way, he has never had staring spell type seizures, has he? If he has, this might be another avenue to pursue, although by now such episodes should have been fairly obvious. Sorry I can't come up with any earth shattering insights. Information provided on the neurology forum is intended for general medical informational purposes only. Actual diagnosis and treatment of your husbands specific medical illness, if he has one, should be strictly in conjunction with his treating physician(s). We hope you find the information provided useful.

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