Visit any natural history museum and humankind’s ancestors are shown fighting the elements, large predators and one another to survive. But a recent study shows these folks had another thing to worry about: cardiovascular disease (CVD).
The research, published online at Human Biology, showed that genetic risks of CVD have been declining for millennia. The team examined 3,180 disease loci shared by ancients and modern humans, with researchers looking for genetic variants—also known as alleles—which are associated with diseases or protection from them.
“Humans way back then, and Neanderthals and Denisovans—they’re our distant evolutionary cousins—they appear to have had a lot more alleles that promoted disease than we do,” said principal investigator Joe Lachance, an assistant professor of biological sciences at the Georgia Institute for Technology. “The genetic risks for cardiovascular disease were particularly troubling in the past.”
But larger populations are able to able to reduce troublesome genetic variants, which has reduced CVD-related alleles.
Still, it’s not all good news. The study included data on a range of genetic diseases, from the psychological to gastrointestinal. While CVD has become less of a risk for modern humans, some conditions may present more of a danger in the last 1,000 years with environmental and dietary changes.
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Nicholas joined TriMed in 2016 as the managing editor of the Chicago office. After receiving his master’s from Roosevelt University, he worked in various writing/editing roles for magazines ranging in topic from billiards to metallurgy. Currently on Chicago’s north side, Nicholas keeps busy by running, reading and talking to his two cats.