Whether humans are dark skinned, light skinned, short, tall, skinny, or plump, there is something that ties us all together in life...blood. That said, not all blood is the same. There are 4 blood types; type A, type B, type AB, and type O. But in reality there are 8 types because we have to take the negative and the positive types of blood into account. We hear of this AB+ (positive) or O- (negative), but what does the positive and negative mean? The positive and negative is a short way of saying Rh+/-. This Rh is a phenotype that makes all the difference when it comes to mixing blood. If one with the type A+ received blood from an A-, the A- would produce antibodies which would lead to these antibodies destroying the blood cells.
Extreme cases of this happens at birth because of an incompatibility. If the mother is Rh- but her child is Rh+, during birth their bloods mix, and as such, the mother's antibodies would begin to destroy the fetal red blood cells. This leads to severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, even miscarriage, and if born, infant has Hemolytic (“rupture or destruction of red blood cells”) Disease of the newborn. But not all hope is lost for the infants who have Rh+. The mother is injected with Rh immunglobuline at mid-term and birth to neutralize immune reaction.
When it comes to blood transfusions doctors have to be very careful about which patient gets what type of blood. Those with type A- can receive type A- or type O-, and can donate to type A-, A+, AB-, and AB+; type A+ can receive from both positive and negative of types A and O, but can only donate to type A+ and type AB+. This system is the same for type B, but in place of the A, it is a B. So like A-, B- can donate to type B-, B+, AB-, and AB+, but can only receive from type O-, and type B-. Also like type A+, type B+ has a more open array of recipients, but not many donors. The universal recipient is AB+, this type can receive from both Rh- and Rh+, but AB- can only receive from Rh- blood types. Even though AB+ is the universal recipient, those with AB blood can only donate to those with AB blood. Now, because there is a universal recipient, there is a universal donor, which we know as O-. This blood type is compatible with all types of blood, and the type O+ is opposite of AB-, as in instead of being able to receive every other negative type, O+, is able to donate to every other positive type. Although O+ is the universal donor, those with type O can only receive from fellow type O's (again, taking Rh- and Rh+ into account).
The way blood types are spread throughout the world seems to be a process years in the making. What I mean by this is Native Americans are mainly type O due to the genetic drift (founder effect), A and B were lost. On the other side of the globe type B is highest in India. Reason being plague killed type O's and smallpox killed type A's (but there are still some A's and O's left). There is even a world wide theory that type O is favored by biting insects, which in turn, carry many diseases. This theory would suggest a co-evolution of insects and humans.
With this ends another fun fact for your Friday, or beyond depending on when you read this. If you have an itching to get to the bottom of a small fact that has been festering in your mind, or if you have a blog topic you would like me to cover, or if you would just like to express your thoughts on this first Fun Fact Friday, please feel free to comment below.
Extreme cases of this happens at birth because of an incompatibility. If the mother is Rh- but her child is Rh+, during birth their bloods mix, and as such, the mother's antibodies would begin to destroy the fetal red blood cells. This leads to severe anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, even miscarriage, and if born, infant has Hemolytic (“rupture or destruction of red blood cells”) Disease of the newborn. But not all hope is lost for the infants who have Rh+. The mother is injected with Rh immunglobuline at mid-term and birth to neutralize immune reaction.
When it comes to blood transfusions doctors have to be very careful about which patient gets what type of blood. Those with type A- can receive type A- or type O-, and can donate to type A-, A+, AB-, and AB+; type A+ can receive from both positive and negative of types A and O, but can only donate to type A+ and type AB+. This system is the same for type B, but in place of the A, it is a B. So like A-, B- can donate to type B-, B+, AB-, and AB+, but can only receive from type O-, and type B-. Also like type A+, type B+ has a more open array of recipients, but not many donors. The universal recipient is AB+, this type can receive from both Rh- and Rh+, but AB- can only receive from Rh- blood types. Even though AB+ is the universal recipient, those with AB blood can only donate to those with AB blood. Now, because there is a universal recipient, there is a universal donor, which we know as O-. This blood type is compatible with all types of blood, and the type O+ is opposite of AB-, as in instead of being able to receive every other negative type, O+, is able to donate to every other positive type. Although O+ is the universal donor, those with type O can only receive from fellow type O's (again, taking Rh- and Rh+ into account).
The way blood types are spread throughout the world seems to be a process years in the making. What I mean by this is Native Americans are mainly type O due to the genetic drift (founder effect), A and B were lost. On the other side of the globe type B is highest in India. Reason being plague killed type O's and smallpox killed type A's (but there are still some A's and O's left). There is even a world wide theory that type O is favored by biting insects, which in turn, carry many diseases. This theory would suggest a co-evolution of insects and humans.
With this ends another fun fact for your Friday, or beyond depending on when you read this. If you have an itching to get to the bottom of a small fact that has been festering in your mind, or if you have a blog topic you would like me to cover, or if you would just like to express your thoughts on this first Fun Fact Friday, please feel free to comment below.
RSS Feed
