Dementia gene doubles risk

A faulty gene linked to dementia doubles the risk of developing coronavirus, a new study has suggested. Researchers linked the fault, found in people of European ancestry, to a greater risk of the virus even when they had not developed dementia. One in 36 people of European ancestry have two faulty copies of the ApoE e4e4 gene, which is known to increase the risk of dementia 14-fold. Scientists at the universities of Exeter and Connecticut analysed data from 382,188 people. They found that, overall, 2.36 per cent of people had the faulty gene, but that of those who had tested positive for Covid-19, 5.13 per cent possessed it.