Researchers warned the public that people with autism have been found to have shorter life span compared to the rest of the population. Experts discovered that due to the likelihood of epilepsy and suicide among the autistic individuals, their life clock ticks faster than normal. Their life was said to be shorter by 12 to 30 years.
The study that was published on The British Journal of Psychiatry suggested that although people with autism have long been known to die prematurely due to various illnesses and complications that come with their condition, the new research reveals that there are actually two primary causes of their early death, and these are suicide and epilepsy.
With the discovery, Autistica UK, a charity which funds and campaigns for autism research, has recently launched a new drive in an effort to gather 10 million pounds to fund the study that will give concrete and exact answers as to why autism sufferers die earlier than normal.
Moreover, although experts have not been able to completely pinpoint the reason why there is a link between epilepsy, suicide and life span of someone with autism, the recent study seems to indicate that social issues, side effects from medications and bullying are possible contributing factors why an autistic person only have an average age of 39.
In a press release, Autistica's chief executive Jon Spiers said that the study confirms the "true scale of the hidden mortality crisis in autism." He also stressed that people cannot just take in the fact that most of the individuals with autism will never have the chance to celebrate their 40th birthday so something must be done.
"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," Spiers added.
Finally, since more and more babies are being born with autism and others have to live with a lifelong developmental disability, the study proved to be a significant matter. Then again, scientists say that they still have a lot to do to duly understand and uncover the causes of lower mortality rate of autistic individuals.
Watch the informative video below to know more about autism disorder: