17/06/2023
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Fascial contracture linked with Neanderthal genes
That Dupuytren contracture - contracture of the fascia in the palm of the hand - is more common in people whose ancestors passed on some genes to them from Scandinavia, has been known for a long time. In Norway approx. 30 percent of males over the age of 60 are affected. In contrast, it is extremely rare in people from sub-Saharan Africa. That’s why it is also called ‚Viking’s disease. The same people are also more likely to develop similar fibrotic fascial contracture in other parts of the body. This week an important insight has been published - including the Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo as co-author - based on on extensive genetic analysis revealing that among the 61 gene variants that are associated with an increased risk for this pathology, 3 these are from Neanderthals, including the 2 variants with the second and third highest correlation. As the authors wrote “The results … suggest that a a mixture with Neanderthals had a major impact on the prevalence of the disease in modern humans”.
Most people carry between 1% and 2% of Neanderthal DNA in them, and - according to a genetic analysis which I recently conducted out of curiosity - I carry „more Neanderthal variants than 94% of customers“. Like many others I am therefore more susceptible to pathologies, such as autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes, and prostate cancer. In addition we express a higher likelihood for fibrotic pathologies such as lung fibrosis in response to Covid-19. Based on the need for further research many scientists carefully warn against premature associations between Neanderthal distribution and Vikings, and also point out that people in the Italian region of Tuscany carry one of the highest proportion of Neanderthal genes today, as do some specific regions in Asia.
I nevertheless find it interesting to now understand one more contributing factor why my fascial body tends to „stiffen“ more than it does in some of my envied co-participants in most yoga classes I attend. And it also inspires me to learn more about anti-fibrotic life-style and treatment factors which I can utilize.