Health guide
Compiled by Shanika Sriyananda
'No unseen forces in speech disorders' - Jayasinghe
by Shanika Sriyananda
The small girl is unable to express herself, for her age. Unable to
respond to her mother, she tries using signs. Living in a very remote
village in the Moneragala district, her parents are ignorant about medical
assistance available at the nearest District Hospital to help their little
daughter to put her thoughts into words.
Believing much on unseen forces, they still think that their little
daughter's impediment is due to some evil force. Even in this modern era
with advanced technology many are ignorant and are 'caged' inside homes
without medical treatment because of social stigma. A child or an adult, who
cannot talk, still seems to be a stigma for Sri Lankans. This misconcept has
led them to be in isolation and worsening the situation due to delayed
therapeutic treatment.
Communication difficulties cannot be attributed to karma, any more. They
are impairments, which need urgent medical intervention.
According to hospital sources, politicians, singers, teachers and others
who talk too much suffer from voice disorders.
Speech delays are not only childhood health problems but also speech
impairments among adults as a result of loss of hearing, neurological
disorders, brain injury, mental retardation, drug abuse, physical
impairments such as cleft lip or palate, and vocal abuse or misuse.
However, according to S. Jayasinghe, Senior Speech and Language
Therapist, National Hospital, Colombo, children and adults who show some
signs of speech difficulties need early treatment.
She says "that language disorders may be related to other disabilities
such as mental retardation, autism, or cerebral paralysis. Though speech and
language therapy treatments are available in most of the main hospitals, and
there are qualified speech therapists in the country, still people in
villages are not aware that these problems can be corrected", she adds.
According to Jayasinghe, if a person has difficulties in producing speech
sounds or problems with voice quality, he suffers from speech disorders and
he might have an interruption in the flow or rhythm of speech, such as
stuttering, which is called dysfluency. "Speech disorders may be problems
with the way sounds are formed, called articulation or phonological
disorders, or there may be difficulties with the pitch, volume or quality of
the voice", she says.
Jayasinghe also says that there may be a combination of several problems,
and people with speech disorders have trouble using some speech sounds,
which can also be a symptom of delay.
"Patients from various clinics including the ENT and neurology are
referred to the Speech and Language Therapy Clinic. Their speech and
language skills will be rehabilitated to have better communication", she
says.
At the clinic, the therapist will just talk to the patients to dig into
the history. After a brief assessment, the patient will be given a list of
things to do. If the patient is a child, advice will be then given to
parents, who will be advised to practice them at home with the kid.
A re-assessment of their speech ability will be carried out in the next
clinic day and this process will be continued until the patient shows signs
of progress.
"But nothing magical will happen by visiting the clinic. They, (adult
patients and parents of small kids) have to understand the advice given by
the therapists. Regular discussions with the therapists is also vital to
overcome communication disorders", Jayasinghe stresses.
According to Jayasinghe, the patient has to remember that speech and
language therapy is not a treatment for sound, but a treatment to develop
speech and language difficulties.
"People who live in Colombo and the city somehow bring the patients to
the clinics, but it is sad to note that it is not so, in the outstations",
she points out.
"Most speech disorders can be corrected if the patient is directed to a
speech therapy clinic", she adds.
Meanwhile, Jayasinghe also warns of quack therapists.
***
Speech and language disorders
In children:
* Speech and language delay * Deafness * Voice disorders * Cleft lip and
palate * Learning difficulties * Disfluency * Autism * Head injuries *
Neurological Speech disorders * Dyspraxia
In adults:
* Speech and language delay * Deafness * Voice disorders * Cleft lip and
palate * Learning difficulties * Disfluency * Paralysis * Dementia *
Dysarthria - After a stroke or other brain injury, the muscles of the mouth,
face, and respiratory system may become weak, move slowly, or not move at
all. The resulting speech condition is called dysarthria. * Head and Neck
Cancer - Laryngeal cancer, oral cancer, and swallowing problems after a bout
of cancer * Huntingtons Disease * Traumatic Brain Injury * Vocal Fold
Nodules and Polyps * Vocal Fold Paralysis - Nerve damage to the vagus nerve,
which has branches that run from the brain stem to the larynx and regulates
the movement of the vocal folds, is the specific cause of vocal fold
paralysis.
****
What are speech and language disorders?
Speech and language disorders refer to problems in communication and
related areas such as oral motor function. These delays and disorders range
from simple sound substitutions to the inability to understand or use
language or use the oral-motor mechanism for functional speech and feeding.
A language disorder is an impairment in the ability to understand and use
words in the context, both verbally and non-verbally. Some characteristics
of language disorders include improper use of words and their meanings,
inability to express ideas, inappropriate grammatical patterns, reduced
vocabulary and inability to follow directions.
One or a combination of these characteristics may occur in children who
are affected by language learning disabilities or developmental language
delay.
Speech and Language Therapy is available in clinics at the National
Hospital, Colombo, Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital, Teaching Hospital
Kandy, Maharagama Cancer Institute and Ratnapura, Karapitiya and Kurunegala
Hospitals.
Holistic healing
Ayurveda
Three dosha theory
by Dr. Danister L. Perera
The doshas are constantly moving in dynamic balance, one with the
other. Doshas are required for life to take place. In Ayurveda, dosha is
also known as the governing principles as every living thing in nature is
characterised by the dosha.
As we have already been enlightened about Three dosha, they are the
biological principles or bio-energies or bio-regulating principles of the
human organism.
Three dosha theory is a very vast subject and a deep teaching in Ayurveda.
To understand some preliminary functions and operations in the body Three
dosha must be further elaborated with its fundamentals. For that, we have to
go back to our previous illustrations on Three dosha in a different
approach.
In Ayurvedic philosophy, the five elements combine in pairs to form three
dynamic forces or interactions called doshas. The doshas are constantly
moving in dynamic balance, one with the other. Doshas are required for the
life to take place. In Ayurveda, doshas are also known as the governing
principles as every living thing in nature is characterised by the dosha.
Thus, Vata is composed of space and air, Pitta of fire and water, and
Kapha of water and earth. Vata dosha has the mobility and quickness of space
and air; Pitta dosha the metabolic qualities of fire and water; Kapha dosha
the stability and solidity of water and earth.
Everything in the universe is made up of a combination of the five
elements (Pancha Mahabhutas). This includes the human being, which also
acquires a soul or spirit. These five elements are known as: Akasha, Vayu,
Tejas, Apa, Prithvi.
These five elements, it should be understood, are derived from and are
expressions of a single creative principle, which is one. These five
elements are to be understood in a material sense as well as in a subtle
sense. By earth we are to understand not only the terrain of our planet or
the iron in our red blood cells and spleen, but also the quality of
steadfastness of mind, strength of one's moral fibre, one's slow and quiet
undeterred advancement towards a goal, and the resistance to the
manifestations of others.
By water we mean to imply the cohesive aspects of reality, which flows
into and hold things together, perfectly and simply witnessed in the H2O
molecule. And the other elements too were intended by the ancient physicians
to communicate the essential universal principle inherent in a particular
element.
By fire we mean the universal force in nature that produces heat and
radiates light; it is our passion to pursue despite obstacles and delays; it
is what burns away the cloak of ignorance (avidya) and allows the truth to
shine with brilliance.
Fire removes doubt from the mother substance of the human heart and
replaces it with joy. Air is that transparent, kinetic force which sets the
universe in motion; it moves blood through the vessels, wastes from the
body, thoughts through the mind; it moves the birds to warmer climates in
winter, it moves the planets around the sun. Space is the subtlest of all
elements, which is everywhere and touches everything; in the mind it is the
vessel, which receives all impressions, in the heart, space accepts love;
space is receptivity and non-resistance to what is true.
The five elements can be seen to exist in the material universe at all
scales both organic and inorganic, from peas to planets. When they enter
into the biology of a living organism, man for example, they acquire a
biological form.
This means that the five elements are coded into three biological forces,
which govern all life processes. These three forces are known as the three
doshas. The three doshas regulates every physiological and psychological
process in the living organism.
The interplay among them determines the qualities and conditions of the
individual. A harmonious state of the three doshas creates balance and
health; an imbalance, which might be an excess (vrddhi) or deficiency (ksaya),
manifests as a sign or symptom of disease. You can think of these three
doshas as fundamental biological energies, which regulates all the life
processes of an individual.
And as we will discuss later, although all individuals are made up of
these same three energies, we all have them in unique proportions. The
doshas obtain their qualities by virtue of their elemental composition.
Thus, these five subtle elements (Pancha Mahabhutas) form the basis for
all things found in the material creation, from a grain of sand to the
complex physiology of every human being.
Balancing these elements in just the right way for each unique individual
is the key to maintaining health and treating disease should it arise,
whether it is physical, mental, or spiritual.
When you figure out a plan to meet your specific needs it should be
simple.
Ayurveda looks at the person's body type, personality type, response to
stress, the weather, the time of year, and the time of life.
Once you have a basic understanding of the five elements, six tastes and
qualities of food, you will understand why you crave for the things you
crave.
Ayurveda then puts these five elements into three categories,
constitutions or "doshas" called Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. We are all a
combination of the three but tend to have dominance in one or two.
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