Autistic people run a significantly higher risk of developing dementia as the crows of memory, warn experts.
Researchers with the largest conference on dementia in the world this week suggested that autistic spectrum disorder (TSA) increasing rapidly could increase the risk of dementia, which affects 9 million Americans.
In a study of nearly 800,000 people, adults autistic people and other intellectual disabilities were up to three times more likely to have signs of cognitive decline and dementia.
And even autistic people under the age of 50 were 30% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than their neurotypical peers.
Another unveiled study has shown that almost one in three adults showed at least two signs of cognitive decline, such as forgetting a word or wandering the night.
Experts Pennsylvania and Washington Dc suggested that increased risk could be due to higher rates of other conditions in people with autistic people, as depression And diabeteswhich has proven to cause harmful inflammation in the brain.
The drugs that block neurotransmitters responsible for memory such as bladder drugs and Benadryl can also be to blame, has suggested one of the studies.
Emerging research comes as One in 31 children in the United States now has autismAn amazing increase compared to approximately one in 150s in the early 2000s.
Newly presented research shows that autism can increase the risk of dementia (image in stock)
Experts suspect that the wave is due to what doctors improve to detect disorder and increased awareness.
However, Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr Earlier this year, announced a series of studies to refine “environmental toxins” which he thinks of being responsible, including pollution, ultra-trained foods and ultrasounds.
Dr. Lindsay Shea, one of the study’s authors and director of the AJ Drexel Autism Institute of Drexel AJ Drexel, said during a presentation of the conference: “We see that autistic children grew up to become mainly autistic adults and now older adults.
“The first generation of autistic adults is now in the 80s and 90s.”
Dementia is also increasing, experts suspecting that it could strike 14 million Americans by 2060.
In a study presented this week at the International Conference of the Alzheimer’s association, researchers withdrew data from Medicare and Medicaid from 2017 to 2019 from nearly 800,000 Americans aged 30 and over.
Participants were divided into four groups: autism, autism plus intellectual disability (fetal alcohol syndrome, for example) or intellectual impairment.
There were 60,087 people in the autistic group, 101,748 with autism and intellectual disability and 632,607 with only an intellectual disability.
They were then compared to around 760,000 adults in the general population.
Researchers found that 30% of adults over 65 with autism received a diagnosis of dementia, against 19% in the general population, an increased risk of 45%.
The difference was even greater for autistic people and intellectual disability, because 32% of this group developed dementia.
Among the 50 to 64 year olds, eight percent of autistic people had dementia, against five percent of the general population, a difference of 46%. And people with autistic people and another intellectual disability were three times more likely to have a dementia than neurotypical people.
The team also found that 1.1% of people with autistic people aged 30 to 49 had dementia against 0.8% in the general population, a difference of 31%.
Dr. Shea said: “These data support the idea both early and higher prevalence rate in these populations.”
Another study by the University of George Washington examined two samples of 210 independent adults and 500 dependent people who reported signs of cognitive decline such as tasks or recall words, altered judgment or behavioral changes.
The caregivers also noted that their career for the prosecution wandered at night, avoided to launch a conversation and waste track of time.
Independent participants were between 42 and 81 years old with an average age of 54 years. Autistic adults dependent on a caregiver were 18 to 68 years old with an average age of
About 30% of independent autistic people had two or more signs or more cognitive decline while 10% of dependent adults had at least a sign of deficiency.
The most common cognitive decline indicators were less interest in activities, daily reflection problems and judgment issues.
Dr. Gregory Wallace, study author and associate professor at George Washington University, said: “It is very high given the average age”.
Dr. Wallace thinks that certain drugs could be blamed. Almost two -thirds of the study adults took anticholinergics, drugs that block the acetylcholine neurotransmitter, which is crucial for muscle contractions, memory, learning and other functions.
The above map shows the risk of dementia divided by the geographic region
They are used to deal with a variety of problems, including urinary incontinence, gastrointestinal distress, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MPOC) and Parkinson’s disease, which are all more frequent in autistic people than in the general population.
These drugs are also sold over -the -counter as Benadryl, Tylenol, Advil PM and Dramamine, among others.
Anticholinergics are thinking blocking the acetylcholine neurotransmitter on repeated use could cause permanent damage to cognitive functions. Autistic people also tend to be more sensitive to drugs.
The increased risk of dementia can also be linked to chronic conditions such as depression, diabetes and high blood pressure, which induces harmful inflammation in the brain and damages the neurons responsible for memory.
Dr. Shea said: “This is particularly remarkable because all these diagnoses are more widespread in autism than in the general population.
“We know that autistic adults are often unemployed, often have no community integration and have high obesity rates.”
