Some years back, scientists discovered stretches of Neanderthal DNA in living humans, and now they have found proof, described in a study appeared on Thursday in Science, that some of that DNA could help shape our health.

In case you bring out a comparison between Neanderthal skeleton and a modern human skeleton, the Neanderthal appears stocky, barrel-chested, and quite brutish. They were genetically different, however, nonetheless, to modern humans’ closest relative, Homo sapiens. They used to live in Europe and western Asia, whereas modern humans initially roamed in Africa.

Thereafter, nearly 60,000 years back, some of the modern humans become restless and moved to Eurasia. There they met the Neanderthals, and apparently some liked what they witnessed, thus had kids.

Such kids received genes from both groups, and some of the genes got passed down to a number of us. Genetic researcher Tony Capra, of Vanderbilt University, has discovered some intriguing Neanderthal genes in modern Americans.

Capra said for example, they have discovered a specific bit of Neanderthal DNA that was linked to increased amounts of blood clotting.

Capra discovered the stretch of genetic material associated with blood clotting by comparing Neanderthal fossils’ DNA to DNA from the electronic health records of nearly 28,000 adults.

Capra mentioned that his colleagues also found Neanderthal DNA that's linked to things such as an increased vulnerability of actinic keratosis, a state that causes growths on the skin. And they discovered another bit of Neanderthal DNA that was strangely common in depressed people.

However, Capra has noted that these were just associations, and the study couldn’t say that the preserved bits of Neanderthal DNA have directly contributed to such conditions.

He added, “This Neanderthal DNA influences [a] general bodily system in humans, meaning the circulatory system, for example, or the skin or the brain. But it doesn't mean it was bad for us or bad for them”.