Why Do Autistic Patients Die Decades Before General Population?

Worryingly, autistic patients tend to die 12 to 30 years earlier than non-autistic persons, shows new research.

While a number of factors contribute to early death among autistic patients, the two most common factors seem to be suicide and epilepsy.

"Up to 40 percent of people with autism also suffer from epilepsy. People with autism may also differ from those in the general population by having a more restricted diet, limited access to exercise and increased use of medication," the research team wrote.

Experts from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden discovered that autistic patients die 18 years earlier than others. Even those who suffer from autism, as well as intellectual disability, tend to die 30 years earlier while others without intellectual ability tend to pass away 12 years earlier.

Looking at information from more than 27,000 adults, it was found that autistic adults without learning disabilities tend to be more likely to die of suicide, compared to others.

Moreover, research  showed that women with autism as well as learning disabilities were exposed to a greater risk of premature death.

"This new research confirms the true scale of the hidden mortality crisis in autism. The inequality in outcomes for autistic people shown in this data is shameful. We cannot accept a situation where many autistic people will never see their 40th birthday. Everyone involved in supporting people on the autism spectrum from the Government right down to local care providers has a responsibility to step up and start saving lives as soon as possible," Autistica's Chief Executive Job Spiers said.

The study was recently published in The British Journal of Psychiatry.