SemanticTriangle t1_isykwgd wrote
Reply to comment by rjmsci in Natural Selection Driven by the Black Death Linked to Modern-Day Autoimmune Disease: Analysis of DNA from over 200 remains shows that the Black Death selected for immune gene variants that are also risk factors for autoimmune conditions like Crohn's disease. by rjmsci
Are they unhelpful, though? Are these alleles so specific to bubonic plague that they don't help with other communicable diseases?
666pool t1_isz3v2p wrote
Think of it as over active immune systems. Those who had over active immune systems had a better chance in fighting off bubonic plague, but also greater chance to fight their own body.
haleysname t1_isza5k6 wrote
anecdotal: type 1 diabetic for 34 years, I never get sick. Haven't even gotten Covid and worked the entire last few years in essential retail face to face with the unwashed masses.
CHUNKY_DINGUS t1_iszs2h9 wrote
Same!! Also a T1D, I NEVER get sick, I've never gotten covid despite multiple exposures, and from my family genealogy I know that I am the descendent of plague survivors.
Edit: It's funny, my dad was telling me that our ancestors were plague survivors just this morning before I read this!
haleysname t1_iszuw9g wrote
That's really cool! I haven't done any genealogy research for my family.
I'm gonna say we have super powers with side effects. Still worth it.
​
But also, I feel like I've always been told if I do get the flu (or whatever) I'm way more likely to die from it, so obviously, I'm still vaccinated as much as possible.
Total-News3680 t1_it0arwu wrote
So it's coincidental , TD1 and your immune strength.
shoestars t1_it1zrgq wrote
Well type 1 diabetes is an immune related condition
Total-News3680 t1_it5rqd8 wrote
Yes. I was thinking it was a question of regulation of the immune response rather than its intrinsic strength, but regulation js part of its intrinsic strength.
tiktalyk t1_it1eut2 wrote
My family has a history with autoimmune diseases. At least one Type 1 Diabetic in every generation, sometimes multiple, I have a brother with Crohn’s, lots of allergies popping up in the family such as Aloe Vera and Almonds, plus family history has a crazy overreaction to the 1918 Flu.
I don’t pick up diseases that easily. I’ve gotten exposed to Covid multiple times, I usually have relatively mild cold and flu symptoms if I get it at all.
Of course I also got migraines with aura, so it’s not as if I don’t get sick, it’s just that my usual sick is more of a brain malfunction instead of a pathogen.
Abject-Armadillo-496 t1_it03uzk wrote
And apparently having covid can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes? I read that somewhere ..
Total-News3680 t1_it0awhm wrote
Its a little soon to draw that conclusion i think.
Doctrevil t1_it13bzg wrote
Well I mean technically if you had COVID you have a higher likelihood of never getting a chance to get type 2 diabetes
Total-News3680 t1_it1p7wu wrote
Especially if you are of the mindset that believes getting Covid is the best way to develop immunity to covid.
SqeeSqee t1_isymjcz wrote
They said 6th grade explanation. it's obviously more complex than that, but they got the basics across.
UrbanArcologist t1_isywrtu wrote
They may help fight diseases of all kinds critical to mature enough to reproduce. After that natural selection isn't a factor. Can't imagine life expectancy was very high in the dark ages.
666pool t1_isz40gr wrote
It actually was once you got through childhood.
Du_ds t1_iszcoco wrote
If you lived to adulthood, you could expect a much longer life than average because the average is so skewed by all the dying in childhood.
666pool t1_iszqtme wrote
That’s not what I’m saying at all. Even the Romans had an average life expectancy of like 70+ if they made it to adulthood, which is not terribly dissimilar from today.
tampering t1_it0eiop wrote
Probably not specific, but plague was so deadly that it killed a lot of people without the mutation, so it became more widespread in the population where there were high rates of bubonic plague.
Let's say hypothetically the mutation is also helpful against a common upper respiratory infection. but having it means you only have the sniffles twice a year versus three times a year. Lacking that sort of helpfulness doesn't prevent an individual from passing on their genes to the next gen.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments