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"Dementia gene might increase risk for serious COVID-19, study says"
A genetic mutation linked to dementia might increase a person's risk for serious illness from COVID-19, a study published Tuesday in the Journal of Gerontology said. . . .
After researchers took into account various factors, including age and sex, they found that those with two e4 variants had more than double the risk of severe COVID-19 than those with two e3 variants.
After researchers took into account various factors, including age and sex, they found that those with two e4 variants had more than double the risk of severe COVID-19 than those with two e3 variants.
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2020/05/26/Dementia-gene-might-increase-risk-for-serious-COVID-19-study-says/6521590504546/
Here's a link to the actual study, "APOE e4 genotype predicts severe COVID-19 in the UK Biobank community cohort." You'll need to click on the PDF icon to get the full paper.
https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/advance-article/doi/10.1093/gerona/glaa131/5843454
The study indicates that APOe4 homozygotes (i.e., those who carry two copies of the APOe4 gene, which is also colloquially known as the "Alzheimer's gene" ) are also more likely to come down with COVID-19 than APOe3 homozygotes (i.e., those who have two copies of the "normal" gene).
Unfortunately, the study didn't break down results for APOe4 heterozygotes (i.e., those with only one copy of the APOe4 gene).
