If you have this in your blood, you can be protected from severe COVID

While masking, social detachment and vaccination as soon as possible are good ways to decrease your chances of contracting COVID, new research suggests that there is a certain genetic factor that can mitigate the risk of developing more severe symptoms of COVID. According to a new study conducted by researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology at the Graduate University of Okinawa, a specific DNA marker can keep a person safe from a serious COVID case that deserves hospitalization. Read on to find out what researchers have found and how it can affect you. And if you want to protect yourself, know that if you are layering these masks, the CDC says to stop immediately.

Read the original article at Better life.

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Neanderthal DNA may be the key to reducing the serious risk of COVID.

In the new study, which will be published in the March 2021 volume of PNAS, the researchers found that a particular group of Neanderthal genes – specifically those that affect chromosome 12 – that still exist in individuals today can help reduce a person’s risk of having a COVID case that requires intensive treatment by 22 percent .

“Although Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago, their immune system still influences us in positive and negative ways today”, geneticist and co-author of the study Svante Pääbo, PhD, explained in a statement. And to get the latest COVID news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

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Genetic variation affects how a person’s body responds to viral exposure.

The study authors found that the particular genetic variant transmitted from Neanderthal DNA was able to reduce the severity of COVID through a specific mechanism. This specific genetic factor – which has been identified in three Neanderthals between 50,000 and 120,000 years old – stimulates the production of enzymes that fight viruses in the human body. “It appears that enzymes encoded by the Neanderthal variant are more efficient, reducing the chance of serious consequences for SARS-CoV-2 infections,” said Pääbo. And if you want to be safe when you’re out and about, be careful, as the CDC has just issued a warning about this type of face mask.

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Genes are more prevalent in certain areas of the world.

The study’s researchers found that the genetic variant is widespread in much of the world. “It is present in the populations of Eurasia and the Americas in carrier frequencies that frequently reach and exceed 50 percent”, according to the PNAS study.

In Japan, about 30 percent of individuals carry the genetic trait, while the study’s researchers found that it is “almost completely absent” in sub-Saharan Africa. And for more information on what can keep you protected from severe COVID, see This common drug can reduce the risk of death from COVID, says the study.

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The underlying conditions can still put you at risk, even if you have Neanderthal DNA.

Although the identified Neanderthal DNA variant may offer some protection to those who have it, it does not necessarily cancel out other risk factors for the development of severe COVID. “It is clear that other factors, such as old age or underlying conditions, such as diabetes, have a significant impact on the degree of illness of an infected individual,” explained Pääbo. “But genetic factors also play an important role and some of them contributed to people today by Neanderthals.” And if you have scheduled a vaccination, know that the CDC is warning you not to do it right before you are vaccinated.

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