Is severe asthma more common is autism than normal people?

Page 1 of 1 [ 6 posts ] 

AlexWelshman
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 15 Jun 2011
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 357
Location: UK

22 Jul 2011, 11:18 am

I have noticed something! There appears to be loadss of autistic people who develop really severe asthma or excema. Is it a co-morbid? Is the fact that they've got asthma or excema anything to do with their autism, or is it just a coinsadence?



Joe90
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 26,492
Location: UK

22 Jul 2011, 12:16 pm

AlexWelshman wrote:
I have noticed something! There appears to be loadss of autistic people who develop really severe asthma or excema. Is it a co-morbid? Is the fact that they've got asthma or excema anything to do with their autism, or is it just a coinsadence?


Must be a coincidence. I know 6 NTs who have asthma. One of my primary school teachers had it really bad.

Anyway, how can a different wiring of the brain affect the way the lungs are wired?


_________________
Female


i_wanna_blue
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 9 Aug 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,113

22 Jul 2011, 4:42 pm

I have a cousin with LFA who has asthma and quite bad eczema. His two younger brothers have it too, and they have learning disabilities but not autism. Whether there is a correlation well, I can't really say, but it may be something to be looked into.



Severus
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2010
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 719

22 Jul 2011, 5:30 pm

There was definitely something in the old medical books about frequent coexistence of atopic dermatitis and/or asthmatic bronchitis (which would nowadays be classified as a form of childhood asthma) and some character and personality traits which strongly resemble those seen in autistic persons (at the time there was no such diagnostic entity as autistic disorder).

I myself had 'asthmatic bronchitis' when I was young and I have always been prone to skin irritation and/or eczema.



Last edited by Severus on 23 Jul 2011, 4:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

johnsmcjohn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jun 2011
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,279
Location: Las Vegas

22 Jul 2011, 7:24 pm

When I was a child I had extremely severe asthma. I was hospitalized on average once a year until I was a teenager. I've only recently outgrown exertion triggered asthma, but I still can't breathe whenever I get sick. I don't think that AS has anything to do with asthma to be honest. I think the fact my parents smoked 5 packs of cigarettes a day between them for the first 20 years of my life caused it. No one from either side of my parent's family had it, and neither of my nieces have it(despite my youngest niece having autism). I think that while asthma may have a genetic component, it is not linked to autism or AS.



Joe90
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 26,492
Location: UK

23 Jul 2011, 4:01 am

Funny, whenever I've seen AS teenagers and young adults on the TV, like in documentaries or anything like that, they always seem to have loads of spots on their face. Not sure if it is actually due to poor hygeine, or lack of self-care perhaps, because it is known that some Autistic people lack awareness in taking care of themselves. I'm not saying this is the answer. Just saying this could be one of the reasons why spots on the skin could be more noticable in Aspies. Then again, I know lots of NTs with spots on their face. So I don't know what it could be then.


_________________
Female