article_snippet: Now it seems that Neanderthals had to contend with an ailment that affected Neanderthals appearance too - psoriasis.
article_snippet: Genetic research on Neanderthal remains has shown that these now extinct ancient cousins of modern humans may have suffered from psoriasis.
article_snippet: Genetic research on Neanderthal has also revealed that these now extinct ancient cousins of modern humans may have suffered from other modern medical disorders such as Crohn's disease, a condition that affects the digestive system.
article_snippet: Neanderthals and modern humans are thought to have co-existed for thousands of years and interbred, meaning Europeans now have roughly two per cent Neanderthal DNA.
article_snippet: These 'legacy' genes have been linked to an increased risk from cancer and diabetes by new studies looking at our evolutionary history.
article_snippet: However, some genes our inherited could have also improved our immunity to other diseases.
article_snippet: Scientists have found that part of our HLA system, which helps white blood cells to identify and destroy foreign material in the body, could have come from Neanderthals.
article_snippet: Other researchers have suggested that humans outside Africa are more vulnerable to Type 2 Diabetes because humans outside Africa interbred with Neanderthals.
article_snippet: Researchers from Oxford and Plymouth universities have also found that genes thought to be risk factors in cancer were present in the Neanderthal genome.
article_snippet: A gene that can cause diabetes in Latin Americans is also thought to have come from Neanderthals, long before Latin Americans ancestors colonised the New World.