‘Viking disease,’ deforming hand disorder, tied to Neanderthals

June 16, 2023

Poor Neanderthals just couldn’t catch a break.

Our ancient ancestors, who probably died out through inbreeding, passed along genes that are still present in modern-day humans.

Research now finds that those Neanderthal genes also gave some people an increased risk for “Viking disease,” also known as Dupuytren’s contracture.

The condition causes the fingers of one or both hands to freeze into a permanently bent position.

It’s called “Viking disease” because it shows up most often in men of Scandinavian or northern European descent.

“Since Dupuytren’s contracture is rarely seen in individuals of African descent, we wondered whether gene variants from Neanderthals can partly explain why people outside of Africa are affected,” Hugo Zeberg, assistant professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said in a news release.

The researchers looked at genetic data from US, Finnish and UK biobanks to compare almost 8,000 people with Dupuytren’s contracture with over 645,000 other people.

Sixty-one genetic risk factors for Viking disease were discovered, of which three were inherited from Neanderthals — including the second and third most-important risk factors.

image of hands with bent fingers caused by Dupuytren's contracture — People with Dupuytren’s contracture have tissue in their hands that builds up over time, causing their fingers to lock into a bent position.

The study authors concluded that their discovery is further proof that our intermingling with Neanderthals — who share up to 98.5% of our DNA — has important health consequences.

“This is a case where the meeting with Neanderthals has affected who suffers from illness, although we should not exaggerate the connection between Neanderthals and Vikings,” said Dr. Zeberg.

Neanderthals lived in Europe and western Asia until they were replaced by modern humans about 40,000 years ago. But before Neanderthals disappeared, they mixed — and mated — with modern humans.

Some studies have suggested Neanderthals could have passed along a genetic predisposition for alcoholism, depression, autism and more severe COVID-19 infection.

Roughly 30% of men over the age of 60 in northern Europe have Dupuytren’s contracture. It’s usually not painful, but it can prevent someone from engaging in everyday activities, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The condition can be treated with surgery, injections of steroids or “needling,” which breaks up the tissue that causes the fingers to contract.