Sarah is a multi-skilled award-winning Author and proud mother from the UK. Her extensive experience in senior management and adult teaching means she brings valuable insight into various topics via her writing and public speaking.
It may seem like a strange question, but do you know your unique blood type? I anticipate that there will be a large portion of readers who do, but also many who have never even considered the need for this information.
If you pause to read on, you will learn about the complexities of our blood, and just how beneficial this knowledge can be to you, your family and your friends.
Let's start with the basics.
We all have at least some knowledge of blood, and you have no doubt seen blood escape your body many times before, but the many vital functions of your blood may surprise you.
What does our blood do for us?
Our blood is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma.
Blood regulates our temperature,
Blood carries infection-fighting antibodies and cells to where they need to be,
Our blood clots, to avoid excessive blood loss at times of injury or trauma
Blood carries nutrients and oxygen to our lungs and other bodily tissues.
But why am I writing about blood types?
As a regular blood donour of 20 + years, I have always felt happy and humbled after each donation.
Being able to donate your own blood to help others safely is something that I really do embrace and enjoy.
I was so intrigued by the whole process that I even trained to work as a Saturday Phlebotomist in a fertility clinic. This way, I could learn more!
Giving blood and enduring needles, however, can be very daunting for most people.
Depending on the individual patient, the visibility of the veins, and the competencies of the Phlebotomist, it can cause pain and anxiety if the procedure itself is not carried out successfully.
This is why I enjoyed my phlebotomy role, as I wanted to ensure I displayed compassion, accuracy, and professionalism so that I could put my patients at ease and ensure their comfort and calmness.
What determines your blood type?
Your genetic makeup (from your parents) will determine your blood type and this is identified by the presence of antigens and antibodies within your blood.
Antibodies are proteins within the plasma and they support your body’s natural defence system. They will locate germs and foreign objects, then communicate with your immune system to eradicate them.
Antigens are protein molecules that are located on the surface of your red blood cells.
If you don’t yet know your blood type, you can use a blood type testing kit, or you can find out by volunteering to become a blood donour.
You can sometimes find out from your medical records, if you can gain access to them (and if your blood has ever been tested and logged by medical professionals).
The 4 main blood groups
There are 4 main blood groups (A, B, AB, and O)
The ‘ABO system’ is used to identify blood types for medical records:
Blood group A
This blood group has A antigens within the red blood cells and anti-B antibodies within the plasma.
Blood group B
This blood group has B antigens within the red blood cells and anti-A antibodies within the plasma.
Blood group O
This blood group has no antigens but has both anti-A and anti-B antibodies within the plasma.
Blood group AB
This blood group has A and B antigens but no antibodies.
It doesn't end there, though, as there is another antigen to throw into the blood type mix!
Your blood group will also be either RhD positive or RhD negative, meaning that in total, there are actually 8 different blood types.
When the RhD protein is present in your blood, your blood group is RhD positive, but when it is absent from your blood, you are RhD negative.
This is where the 8 blood types come into play
A RhD positive (A+)
A RhD negative (A -)
B RhD positive (B +)
B RhD negative (B -)
O RhD positive (O+)
O RhD negative (O -)
AB RhD positive (AB +)
AB RhD negative (AB - )
The most common blood group is O, with around 39% of the global population having this blood type.
Learning that I was amongst the minority (6% of the worldwide population) with A RhD negative blood was rather impactful for me, don't you agree?
Furthermore, only 1.5% of active blood donours are A RhD negative, meaning the demand for donations of this blood type is always very high.
I felt very special!
Now then, I did mention earlier in my article that blood itself is very complex, which is why I must mention that AB negative is even more rare, with only 1% of the global population having this type.
In addition, there are also 3 blood subtypes.
The 3 blood subtypes
Rh null
This rare blood type is so valuable that it is referred to as the ‘Golden Blood.’ It can be safely given to anyone during transfusions without any reactions.
Jka-b-
Another rare blood type because it lacks both the a and the b antigens.
Ro
This is a variation of Rh-positive blood in O-positive, A-positive, B-positive, or AB-positive. This blood type is vital for treating sickle cell disease.
Blood types and transfusions
Administering the wrong blood can be fatal
I wanted to raise awareness of the different blood types and just how important it is that the correct blood types are used for blood transfusions.
Although measures are in place to avoid mistakes, human error does still happen often, and there are many occasions where the worst has happened as a result of a patient receiving the wrong blood following an illness, accident or surgery.
I feel that if more people donate blood and more people are aware of their own blood type, then evidence of this will be more readily available in medical emergencies and we can hopefully be more mindful of complications that may occur with blood-related procedures.
Blood types and pregnancy
Having an awareness of blood type incompatibility may help to avoid complications during conception and pregnancy.
A fertility study found that ladies with an O blood type displayed higher levels of FSH (a follicle-stimulating hormone) than other blood types. Elevated levels of FSH can suggest low ovarian reserves, meaning less eggs are available for fertilisation.
Precautions also need to be taken throughout pregnancy if the mother is RhD-negative and the father is RhD-positive.
A father with RhD-positive blood may produce a RhD-positive baby.
If so, when the mother is exposed to the RhD-positive blood (from the baby), her body may develop an immune response that can be very harmful to the baby.
RhD-negative blood types can even increase the risk of miscarriages or stillbirths, but thankfully, the Rho GAM (anti-D) injection exists to help reduce the likelihood of harm.
In these situations, the mother will be closely monitored throughout the whole pregnancy as an extra precaution.
Being a RhD negative mother myself, I received this antibody injection more than once during my pregnancy and everything turned out fine.
I will continue to stress the importance of ongoing education and fact-finding with regard to this topic, as more combined knowledge can help to keep us all mindful of potential health risks and scenarios and, therefore, help to save more lives!
Blood types and health risks
To conclude, I will leave you with one last question:
Did you know that your blood type may even determine whether you are more or less likely to develop certain health problems or ailments?
Cardiovascular issues, inflammatory diseases, diabetes and even some cancers can be linked to blood types.
There’s even a link between malaria and blood type O.
It seems that mosquitos have blood-sucking preferences, as lab studies concluded that they are more attracted to type O blood!
This article, in my opinion is simply skimming over the surface of the fascinating topic of blood.
If you wish to discuss this subject further, please reach out to me personally and I will be more than happy to delve even deeper.
Read more from Sarah Marie Park
Sarah Marie Park, Award-Winning Author & Wellbeing Advocate
Sarah is a 3 x award-winning wellness Author from Staffordshire, UK. Her self-development workbook has won 3 awards, which has propelled the demands for her professional contributions, by means of pubic speaking, newspaper articles, podcasts and blogs. Sarah is passionate about spreading the importance of mindset awareness to a diverse audience.
