Final answer:
Neanderthals were generally healthy, adapted to their environment with a diet providing good nourishment, avoiding common nutritional issues. Some Neanderthal DNA traits that were once beneficial now pose health risks due to different modern lifestyles. Neanderthal extinction may have involved multiple factors, including competition with Homo sapiens, low birth rates, disease, and genetic evidence of human-Neanderthal interbreeding impacts us even today.
Step-by-step explanation:
Neanderthals, known scientifically as Homo neanderthalensis, were generally healthy in their prehistoric environment. Their physical traits, like being stocky and barrel-chested, enabled them to survive the harsh conditions of the ice age. They were well-nourished due to a diet typical of their natural lifestyle, which means undernutrition, malnutrition, and obesity were rare except in extreme conditions such as unusual drought.
However, the Neanderthal DNA that persists in modern humans indicates that while some inherited traits might have been beneficial in prehistoric times, they can increase the risk of disease today. For instance, a propensity for increased blood clotting could lead to blood clots and strokes, especially in older people with sedentary lifestyles. Similarly, while an immune system boosted by Neanderthal genetics previously helped protect against parasites, it may now cause overactive immune responses, leading to allergies and autoimmune disorders.
The extinction of Neanderthals is thought to have resulted from a combination of factors, including competition with modern humans for resources, low birth rates, and possibly the spread of diseases brought by migrating Homo sapiens. Genetic evidence also suggests human-Neanderthal interbreeding, which has left a legacy in our own genomes today, affecting our susceptibility to certain diseases and potentially our immune responses to infections like COVID-19.