NK Cells Could Be the Key to Reducing Your Risk of COVID, Study Says - Best Life

It’s not just preexisting conditions that can cause your risk of developing severe COVID to skyrocket.

2021 study published in Genetics in Medicine, individuals without a particular type of natural killer (NK) cell receptor in their blood are more likely to develop severe cases of COVID than those who have them.

When the specific NKG2C receptor identified by researchers—which typically binds to the HLA-E antigen in the bloodstream to destroy cells that have become infected by viruses—is missing, a person’s risk of developing severe COVID increases significantly.

According to a study published in the March 2021 volume of PNAS, inherited Neanderthal genes affecting a person’s 12th chromosome could slash a person’s risk of developing severe COVID by 22 percent.

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 percent less likely to die from COVID than those with lower levels of circulating omega-3s.

2021 study published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology found that individuals with gum disease were not only more likely to develop severe COVID symptoms than those without gum disease, but were actually nine times more likely to have their COVID prove fatal.

2021 study published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia found that dementia could significantly increase a person’s risk of catching COVID.

adults, the study’s researchers found that having dementia tripled a person’s risk of catching COVID.