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Life expectancy of people with Asperger's or HFA?

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EmeraldGreen
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18 Dec 2017, 12:03 pm

glasstoria wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
in terms of suicides or accidents [or things thought of as accidents for convenience's sake], there seems to be a higher incidence among folks on the spectrum. certainly diet and exercise, together with exercise, can increase life expectancy among NTs as well as AS folk. likewise, the lack of same [in addition to stress] can truncate lifespans no matter what one's place is on the spectrum. i wish i could definitively answer your questions, but i can only tell you what works for me. what it boils down to, is the fact that you gotta learn to love yourself, no matter what! other people just don't matter here! the only thing that really matters, is what you think and feel about the person staring back at you in the mirror. if one doesn't love oneself, how can one expect anybody else to? if you love yourself you will do what is necessary to get your health on a more even keel, even if it doesn't feel comfortable at the time. i hate not eating my fave fatty foods, and i hate hot sweaty exercise even more, but i value how fitness makes me feel better in my own skin. that is a healthy kind of self-reinforcing self-love, aka a virtuous circle. if you love yourself, the stress seems to abate somewhat, because you won't force yourself to submit to brassholes as desperately, just to keep hold of a comfortable lifestyle. i also was terribly stressed and miserable when i was in the middle-class rat race, but when i was able to retreat into the wilderness as a hermit, my health indicators improved dramatically, once i was away from the competition and all the brassholes. voluntary poverty and good health beats a tenuous [at best] grip on middle-class life and the stress it can entail, IMHO.



Very, very well stated, Aunt Blabby :) Thank you!

I was also worried initially when I found out about ASD. My line of thinking was probably sort of like, "Oh no! What happens to us when we age? Do we prematurely explode like overinflated basketballs? Do we just disintegrate from wear and tear?" but I was assured that there was no guarantee of any horrible fate.

To be honest, my father presents as a person who likely is the genetic bearer of my aspergers, and he is 77 years young, has only recently gotten his first grey hairs, and goes to the public swimming pool and leaps off the diving board, and goes down the swirly pool water slides like someone who is 14.

Listen to Auntie, listen to your own heart and needs, take care of yourself well, in body, mind, and spirit. Your life will play out as it must. In the words of the Beatles "Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be, it's easy. All you need is love"

Including love for yourself. :)
good luck.



I have a theory that AS may actually delay aging. Developmental delays?....Go figure! My brother and I look 15-20 years younger than most people our age, but we are both pushing fifty. We have the skin of people in our mid 30s...still some pimples, at this late age, and very few wrinkles! Our health is also exceptionally good for our age. We do appear a bit emotionally immature for our age too. Neither of us had kids so never benefited from that maturation factor and still behave rather silly and young for our age.... I only just gave up sitting cross-legged on the floor 5 years ago, when my knees started to complain. If AS does sometimes delay aging - I wonder if it could sometimes also extend living?


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EzraS
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18 Dec 2017, 12:11 pm

It's a statistical thing. People with aspergers might work lower income jobs resulting in reduced health care. They also might have poorer living conditions. More susceptible to anxiety and depression. Might be more accident prone etc.

There's a lot of statistical stuff they use to determine life expectancy that has nothing to do with physiology and genetics etc.



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18 Dec 2017, 12:24 pm

True...the statistics might seemingly reduce life expectancy in autism. But then...so does poverty, unemployment, stress, etc amongst neurotypicals. Women are actually beginning to have reduced lifespan because they are working more often, and hence experiencing more stress.

People come on here expecting to die young because they have autism. I tell them it's definitely not "necessarily so." It's a false and misleading statement to tell someone with autism (in the absence of other disorders) that they have a reduced lifespan.

If somebody has Down Syndrome--then yes, the lifespan is reduced. But more and more people with Down Syndrome are living longer and longer lives. There might come a time when somebody with Down Syndrome will not be seen as having a reduced lifespan.

I have autism; I'm 56. I don't believe I'll pass away for at least 30 years.



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18 Dec 2017, 1:39 pm

Who bumped this?
:roll:


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25 Dec 2017, 7:18 pm

There's been good info mentioned here already but I'd like to add that the meds we take for our condition or comorbids might could also shorten our lives.


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25 Dec 2017, 7:46 pm

Well according to a very large study done in Sweden and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, we do have shorter life expectancy. Here is the link but TRIGGER WARNING!! ! Please DO NOT READ if it's going to upset you.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/208/3/232.long

and this gives a good breakdown and highlights areas of interest. Again, PLEASE don't click if you aren't in a good place.

https://spectrumnews.org/news/large-swe ... rly-death/

It's pretty grim stuff but I do believe we are not children and have a right to know. What makes me so angry is so many deaths could be avoided if people, especially Dr's were aware of this stuff. It's a silent epidemic and I feel that pretty much all the focus for autism is on children and us oldies don't matter to anyone.


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26 Dec 2017, 2:09 am

bunnyb wrote:
Well according to a very large study done in Sweden and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, we do have shorter life expectancy. Here is the link but TRIGGER WARNING!! ! Please DO NOT READ if it's going to upset you.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/208/3/232.long

and this gives a good breakdown and highlights areas of interest. Again, PLEASE don't click if you aren't in a good place.

https://spectrumnews.org/news/large-swe ... rly-death/

It's pretty grim stuff but I do believe we are not children and have a right to know. What makes me so angry is so many deaths could be avoided if people, especially Dr's were aware of this stuff. It's a silent epidemic and I feel that pretty much all the focus for autism is on children and us oldies don't matter to anyone.


This study is why I am an outlier and was one of the few people to react negatively to the we are badasses thread. The study is not all that surprising if you take the time to read a lot of posts here. Those of us who made it to middle age or later are survivors and yes we do deserve credit for that. But a lot of us are hurting badly for various reasons and too much patting ourselves on the back is dismissive and in some cases denial.


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26 Dec 2017, 2:11 am

just a thought- but, if I don't pat myself on the back now and then, who will? :scratch:



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26 Dec 2017, 11:05 am

auntblabby wrote:
just a thought- but, if I don't pat myself on the back now and then, who will? :scratch:

I will, but then I'll whisper in your ear "Call it voluntary simplicity, not poverty." You get a better search that way.

On to the thread: The AS side of my family were all near-Centenarians, and I've outlived the other side already. When I turned 55, my friends brought me a birthday cake with 4 candles, only being "sure" of my decade. I didn't notice any aging in my 50s. When asked my age, I usually explain my appearance with "I took a few years off [the rat race]." When I go to the doctor, it is still for injuries, and they ask twice to confirm that I'm not on any prescriptions. I avoided antidepressants and sleeping medication, having little faith in for-profit companies. My checkups, etc, have not been done with any competence, so I'm just carefully ramping up my exercise program to combat the changes I see now.



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26 Dec 2017, 11:19 am

Dear_one wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
just a thought- but, if I don't pat myself on the back now and then, who will? :scratch:

I will, but then I'll whisper in your ear "Call it voluntary simplicity, not poverty." You get a better search that way.
On to the thread: The AS side of my family were all near-Centenarians, and I've outlived the other side already. When I turned 55, my friends brought me a birthday cake with 4 candles, only being "sure" of my decade. I didn't notice any aging in my 50s. When asked my age, I usually explain my appearance with "I took a few years off [the rat race]." When I go to the doctor, it is still for injuries, and they ask twice to confirm that I'm not on any prescriptions. I avoided antidepressants and sleeping medication, having little faith in for-profit companies. My checkups, etc, have not been done with any competence, so I'm just carefully ramping up my exercise program to combat the changes I see now.

:) thank you :flower: I try to convince myself that it is voluntary simplovericity, and sometimes i'm convinced, I guess I should be thankful that things are not [so far] worse. I looked like an overgrown kid until I turned 50, then the picture of dorian gray wanted out of the closet. :bigsmurf:



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26 Dec 2017, 11:26 am

the thought of dying in itself doesn't bother me, in fact I see it as a gain. but the thing that keeps me here on earth is that it might upset a few people if I left them behind prematurely.



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26 Dec 2017, 12:30 pm

Be that as it may, autism itself doesn’t cause reduced life-expectancy. Blame it on the co-morbids.

I’ve read a WrongPlaneteer in his/her 50s telling his/her self that they are “going to die soon.” I felt compelled to contradict that person’s fears in a strong and firm manner.

I have seen many extremely elderly people who seem to have ASD’s of many severities.

There are things which reduce life-expectancy in autism. It’s not the autism itself, though.

I don’t think I’m a “badass.”