LOS ANGELES - Masks may offer wearers more protection than they even realize.The simple act of wearing a mask amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has become a politically charged topic in the United States and across social media, but most public health officials and doctors have cemented a primary reason for mask effectiveness: to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.Researchers and scientists are now learning that not only does wearing a mask reduce viral transmission, but it may also help you avoid major illness, even if you end up contracting the novel coronavirus.The hypothesis is explained in a forthcoming article, scheduled to come out next week in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, which further lays out a second theory.