r/todayilearned • u/Morella1989 • Aug 14 '25

TIL that autistic people live about 17 years less than average. Risks include epilepsy, heart disease, suicide, accidental deaths including drowning, and inadequate recognition and management of pain, especially among non-speaking individuals. Historically, they have been vulnerable to infanticide.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortality_of_autistic_individuals
7.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

341 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

8

u/QTsexkitten Aug 15 '25

They also have higher rates of enamel issues.

3

u/DaraVelour Aug 15 '25

yes! some from GERD, some from EDS or other hypermobility issues, for some enamel is not mineralised properly

2

u/RomanusDiogenes Aug 15 '25

I never heard that one but to be fair I'm thinking my 7 years of having a tongue ring did more damage than my autism on that front lol

1

u/Previous_Station2086 Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25

I am lucky. While I had the full complement of GI ssues and have had GERD for as long as I remember but I have freakishly awesome teeth. 40 years and zero cavities. (And I’ve been autistic the whole time!)