It is not just the pre-existing conditions that can increase the risk of developing severe COVID. According to a new study, a factor detectable only in your blood may be the key to determining how debilitating your COVID symptoms become. Read on to find out what may be putting you at risk for a serious COVID case. And if you’re anxious for the pandemic to end, COVID will be “practically gone” by this date, says the Johns Hopkins doctor.
According to a January 2021 study published in Genetics in Medicine, individuals without a certain type of natural killer cell receptor (NK) in the blood are more likely to develop severe cases of COVID than those who have them. When the specific NKG2C receptor identified by the researchers – which normally binds to the HLA-E antigen in the bloodstream to destroy cells that have been infected by viruses – is missing, the risk of a person developing severe COVID increases significantly.
The study found that approximately four percent of the population does not have the NKG2C receptor entirely, while 30 percent have an NKG2C receptor that is not fully available and, as such, may provide inadequate protection when fighting COVID. “The absence of the receptor was particularly prevalent in patients with COVID-19 being treated in intensive care units, regardless of age or sex. Genetic variations in the infected cell’s HLA-E have also been associated with disease severity, albeit to a lesser extent, ”he explained. Elisabeth Puchhammer-Stöckl, MD, lead author of the study, in a statement. However, this is not the only thing that can increase or decrease your likelihood of having a serious case of COVID; Read on to find out what other factors may be putting you at risk. And for more information on the severity of your coronavirus case, it determines whether or not you will have symptoms of COVID, says a new study.
A good indicator of whether or not you will develop a serious case of COVID may have been established by your ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago. According to a study published in the March 2021 volume of PNAS, inherited Neanderthal genes that affect a person’s 12th chromosome can reduce a person’s risk of developing severe COVID by 22 percent.
The Neanderthal genes in question are supposed to be effective in triggering virus-fighting enzymes in modern humans, according to the study authors. “It appears that enzymes encoded by the Neanderthal variant are more efficient, reducing the chance of serious consequences for SARS-CoV-2 infections,” he explained Svante Pääbo, PhD, a geneticist and co-author of the PNAS study. And for the latest COVID news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
The anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 fatty acids can be your secret weapon in the fight against severe COVID. According to a January 2021 pilot study conducted at the Fatty Acid Research Institute, individuals with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their blood were 75% less likely to die from COVID than those with lower levels of omega -3 circulating. And if you’re concerned about the risk of getting sick, if you have it in your blood, it could be a sign of COVID, studies say.
The clue as to how bad your COVID case may be … in your mouth? A February 2021 study published in Journal of Clinical Periodontology found that individuals with gum disease were not only more likely to develop severe symptoms of COVID than those without gum disease, but were also nine times more likely to have fatal COVID.
A February 2021 study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and dementia found that dementia can significantly increase a person’s risk of contracting COVID. Analyzing data from 61.9 million adults in the U.S., the study’s researchers found that having dementia tripled a person’s risk of contracting COVID. Adults with dementia were also 2.6 times more likely to have a case of COVID requiring hospitalization than those without the disease, and 4.4 percent more likely to die from COVID than the general population. And before you waste your money on a supplement that won’t work, this vitamin won’t protect you from severe COVID, a new study has found.