Bilingualism and Stroke
1. My story – Pre-stroke and Post-stroke
2. Some research – for e.g. Google, Stroke Association
My story
My language story (pre-stroke)
I learned Hindi first and English next. I learned Hindi at home from a very early childhood and I never used English at home. I only spoke English at school with my teachers. With my fellow students at school, I used Hindi. All tests and examinations happened in English. However, Hindi was my first language. English was definitely my second language.
Even after the CFA and MBA, which I completed in English, I would continue to speak Hindi at home and with my friends. Upon securing my first job is when I used English at work and Hindi at home.
I have been using English at work and Hindi at home ever since — its been 17 years till I suffered a stroke in March 2017.
How my stroke happened?
I was at my Gym (Virgin Active – Mill Hill) on 10.03.17 on the first floor when the stroke happened. The time was 9 o’clock in the night and that’s when the gym closes. I came down on the ground floor and I consumed some water and that’s when the stroke happened. After that I lied down on the floor in the changing room and move my right hand and right leg but they refuse to work. Only my left hand and my left leg was working.
Personal trainers has called an ambulance which reaches the gym at 9.20pm. I am lying on the ground but am still awake. The paramedics loaded me on ambulance and took me to Northwick Park Hospital. But the moment they boarded me on ambulance, I was unconscious. I figured out 3 days later that I was given the thrombactomy at St George’s Hospital within 4 hours.
I was fully awake two days later with my right side completely paralysed and my speech was fully gone.
My language story (post-stroke)
After my stroke, I was absolutely without speech for the first two months and I was completely Paralysed with my right side. After 3 months of being in 3 different hospitals, I came home. My right side was completely paralysed and my speech was coming back with one or two words at a time. After two months, I started speaking a bit of Hindi and no English. And then, month on month, Hindi returned sooner and English returned a bit more slowly.
And now, 19 months have passed since my stroke and I have managed 70% of Hindi and 50% of English back. 30% of Hindi and 50% of English is still remaining. I am giving myself another 6 months more to master 100% of Hindi and English.
My language story involves getting back 100% of English and Hindi. Any other 3rd language means I would take another lifetime.
Some research:
1. Bilingualism aids stroke recovery. Multilingual patients more likely to recover cognitive abilities.
Published on Fri, Nov 20th 2015, 15:07
New research by the University of Edinburgh reveals stroke patients “are more likely to regain their cognitive functions if they speak more than one language”.
Co-author Thomas Bak, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: “Bilingualism makes people switch from one language to another, so while they inhibit one language, they have to activate another to communicate.
This switching offers practically constant brain training which may be a factor in helping stroke patients recover.”
2. Speaking More Than One Language Eases Stroke Recovery
By Christopher Wanjek | November 19, 2015 05:40pm ET
There are ways to reduce your risk of having a stroke — for example, you can exercise more and not smoke. But should a stroke occur, you might also be able to reduce your risk of losing brain function if you are a speaker of more than one language.
When it comes to me, I used to exercise around 4-5 times a week and I never smoked but nevertheless I got a stroke.
3. Bilingual People Are Twice as Likely to Recover From a Stroke, Study Finds PETER DOCKRILL | 27 NOV 2015
The benefits of learning another language aren’t limited to just getting by in another tongue. They may also extend to a host of hidden cognitive benefits that could protect your brain in the case of a serious health episode such as a stroke or dementia, according to a new study.
Researchers from the UK and India gathered data from 608 stroke patients in Hyderabad, India, and found that people who speak more than one language have a greater chance to recover from a stroke than monolingual people. And the increase in recovery prospects is by a significant margin too – bilingual people (and those who speak more than two languages) are said to be twice as likely to have normal cognitive functions after a stroke as monolingual people, even after taking into account other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and age.
According to the researchers, the ongoing mental challenges involved with speaking more than one language may boost a person’s cognitive reserve, l leading to an improved ability to cope with damage to the brain stemming from incidents like a stroke. “Bilingualism makes people switch from one language to another, so while they inhibit one language, they have to activate another to communicate,” said study co-author Thomas Bak, a researcher with the University of Edinburgh in the UK. “This switching offers practically constant brain training which may be a factor in helping stroke patients recover.”
In addition to demonstrating a greater likelihood or recovering their mental faculties after a stroke, bilinguals – defined in the study as those who spoke two or more languages – also performed better on post-stroke tests that measured their attention, along with their ability to retrieve and organise information.
It’s worth noting that the particularly impressive recovery results shown by patients in the study may be tied at least in part to the lingual characteristics of the area where the research was based. As the researchers note in their paper, which is published in Stroke, Hyderabad is a multicultural city that plays host to a wide range of different tongues, including Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, and English. As such, the ‘brain training’ people living in Hyderabad are exposed to – and the theorised benefits resulting from it – may not be replicated in equal measure elsewhere. “Constantly switching languages is a daily reality for many residents of Hyderabad,” said Suvarna Alladi, a neurologist at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad. “The cognitive benefit may not be seen in places where the need to function in two or more languages isn’t as extensive.”
That said, you don’t have to live in an area where speaking multiple languages is common in order to potentially boost your cognitive reserve. Previous research has also shown that bilingualism can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, but the researchers say learning how to speak another language isn’t necessarily key to helping you improve your chances in recovering from a stroke – although keeping your brain active throughout life could be. “Our study suggests that intellectually stimulating activities pursued over time, from a young age or even starting in mid-life, can protect you from the damage brought on by a stroke,” said Subhash Kaul, one of the team at NIMS.