Published: Less than 10 min ago
If you have a certain gene variant from Neanderthals, medicines can be broken down more slowly, a study from the Karolinska Institute shows.
Among other things, medications such as pain relievers, blood thinners and cholesterol-lowering agents may need to be tailored to better suit patients who carry the gene variant, reports Vetenskapsradion.
– We are working on trying to understand what the legacy from the Neanderthals means to us today, and a gene variant we got stuck on is a variant that affects how the body takes care of medicines, says genetics researcher Hugo Seeberg, who leads the study at Karolinska Institutet.
– Those who should normally take two tablets may instead only take one if you have this Neanderthal variant, otherwise you will receive too high a dose if the body does not break it down, says Hugo Seeberg.
Previously, the origin of the gene variant was unknown, but it is now known that it is a legacy from the Neanderthals, who died out around 30,000 years ago.
A fifth of all Europeans today carry the gene variant that causes the body to break down certain drugs up to 70 percent more slowly.