What Are The Types Of Blood

Why Does Blood Type Matter

Blood transfusions — when more blood is added to your body — are very common. You may need one if you lose a lot of blood during surgery or as a result of being injured. Your body could also stop making enough healthy blood on its own.

For a transfusion to be safe, the doctor must be sure your blood type matches that of the donor. If the blood type doesnt match, your immune system will attack it. That is unless its O- blood.

This type of blood is like a wild card. Because it can match with any blood type, its in high demand at hospitals. Health care providers use it in emergencies and to help premature babies and people with cancer. If you have type O-, youre what health professionals call a universal donor. You can safely give blood to anyone. Only 7% of people have this blood type.

If you have AB+ blood, youre a universal recipient. You can receive blood from any donor and your body will not attack it. AB blood also makes you a universal plasma donor. You can donate the plasma part of your blood to all blood types because it doesnt have A or B antigens.

The rarest major blood type is AB-. Only 1% of the population has it.

What If I Need A Blood Transfusion

People may need a blood transfusion if they lose a lot of blood their blood is low in certain components such as red cells, platelets or plasma because they have a medical condition such as cancer, anaemia or a bleeding disorder or because they are having surgery.

If you need a transfusion, you will receive blood that has been collected by Australian Red Cross Lifeblood from voluntary donors. All blood is rigorously checked for infections such as HIV and hepatitis. You will also have careful identification checks before the transfusion to make sure you receive the right blood type.

Receiving the wrong blood type in a transfusion is extremely rare. If you did get the wrong blood type, you could have a serious reaction. This could be life threatening so you would need treatment quickly.

Bringing Vital Substances To Cells

Complex multicellular organisms need complex circulatory systems thats because we have many cells, and these cells have high metabolisms.

Without highly efficient means of delivering vital substances like oxygen, water, and nutrients, complex and active life forms like ourselves could not exist.

Some of the vital substances which blood delivers to our cells include:

• Oxygen Near-constant supply needed for cellular respiration.
• Water Correct balance needed for enzymatic activity to proceed smoothly.
• Nutrients Fuel for cellular respiration, and necessary materials for cellular maintenance.
• Biological building blocks Molecules out of which replacement parts and daughter cells can be made.
• Chemical messages from other cells Allows body cells to alter their activity appropriately in response to environmental changes.

Blood also performs other important functions for our bodies, including

Recommended Reading: What Is High Blood Glucose Level

Which Blood Types Are Compatible

You can receive blood from a donor with the same blood type as you.

You can also receive blood from a donor with a compatible blood type.

Similarly, a person with a different blood type to you may be able to safely receive your blood.

O negative blood is known as the universal blood type because it is safe for everyone to receive O negative red cells.

Layers Of Blood Vessels

Both arteries and veins consist of three layers.

• Tunica Intima: It is one of the innermost and thinnest layers of arteries and veins. It comprises endothelial cells. They are in direct contact with the flow of blood.

• Tunica Media: It is the middle layer of an artery or vein. Tunica media is made up of smooth muscle cells.

• Tunica Externa: It surrounds tunica media. It is made up of collagen and is also supported by the elastic lamina in arteries.

Don’t Miss: Blood Clot After Venaseal Procedure

Abo Blood Group System

ABO blood group systemABO blood group system

The ABO blood group system involves two antigens and two antibodies found in human blood. The two antigens are antigen A and antigen B. The two antibodies are antibody A and antibody B. The antigens are present on the red blood cells and the antibodies in the serum. Regarding the antigen property of the blood all human beings can be classified into four groups, those with antigen A , those with antigen B , those with both antigen A and B and those with neither antigen . The antibodies present together with the antigens are found as follows:

There is an agglutination reaction between similar antigen and antibody . Thus, transfusion can be considered safe as long as the serum of the recipient does not contain antibodies for the blood cell antigens of the donor.

The presence or absence of the Rh antigen is signified by the + or sign, so that, for example, the A group is ABO type A and does not have the Rh antigen.

Why Do We Have Different Blood Types

Why are some people O+ and others B-?

The type of blood coursing through your veins is likely different from the blood in your friends and maybe even your family. Knowing your blood type is important for blood transfusions and other medical purposes, which raises a question: Why do humans have different blood types?

There are four main blood groups: A, B, AB and O. Each is defined by which antigens are present on the surface of red blood cells. Type A blood has the A antigen on red blood cells, B has the B antigen, AB has both and O has neither.

“The data are strongly suggestive that the whole reason we have different blood groups is malaria,” said Dr. Claudia Cohn, medical director of the University of Minnesota’s blood bank. “If you superimpose a map of where the malaria parasite is and the group O blood type, it is remarkably similar.”

Malaria has a high death toll, having killed 627,000 people worldwide in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . In people carrying the parasite that causes malaria, infected red blood cells pile up in small blood vessels, blocking blood and the oxygen it carries from getting to the brain. But people with group O blood have significant protection against malaria. A 2007 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , for example, found that people with type O blood were 66% less likely to develop severe malaria than people with other blood types.

Related: What’s the rarest blood type?

You May Like: Blood Sugar 101 In The Morning

Why The Test Is Performed

Blood typing is done so you can safely receive a blood transfusion or a transplant. Your blood type must closely match the blood type of the blood you are receiving. If the blood types do not match:

• Your immune system will see the donated red blood cells as foreign.
• Antibodies will develop against the donated red blood cells and attack these blood cells.

The two ways that your blood and the donated blood may not match are:

• A mismatch between blood types A, B, AB, and O. This is the most common form of a mismatch. In most cases, the immune response is very severe.
• Rh factor may not match.

Blood typing is very important during pregnancy. Careful testing can prevent a severe anemia in the newborn and jaundice.

When Should You Get A Blood Test

You should get routine blood work done at least once a year. Your doctor will typically recommend a panel of tests when you go in for your yearly physical exam. More frequent blood tests might be needed if:

• Youre experiencing unusual, persistent symptoms such as sudden weight loss or new pain
• You want to optimize your health, like maintaining healthy cholesterol
• You want to reduce your risk of disease or complications many heart, lung and kidney conditions can be caught early through blood tests

Getting a blood test is just one step closer to feeling whole. Talk to your doctor if youre experiencing any new or unusual symptoms and schedule a lab appointment at any of our locations in your community.

Don’t Miss: Increase Blood Flow To The Penis

Why Are Blood Types Important

The immune system is the body’s protection against invaders. It can identify antigens as self or nonself. To get a blood transfusion safely, a person’s immune system must recognize the donor cells as a match to his or her own cells. If a match isn’t recognized, the cells are rejected.

The immune system makes proteins called antibodies that act as protectors if foreign cells enter the body. Depending on which blood type you have, your immune system will make antibodies to react against other blood types.

If a patient gets the wrong blood type, the antibodies immediately set out to destroy the invading cells. This aggressive, whole-body response can give someone a fever, chills, and low blood pressure. It can even cause vital body systems like breathing or the kidneys to fail.

Here’s an example of how the blood type-antibody process works:

• Let’s say you have type A blood. Because your blood contains the A marker, it makes B antibodies.
• If B markers enter your body, your type A immune system gets fired up against them.
• This means that you can only get a transfusion from someone with A or O blood, not from someone with B or AB blood.

In the same way, if you have the B marker, your body makes A antibodies. So as a person with type B blood, you could get a transfusion from someone with B or O blood, but not A or AB.

Things are a little different for people with type AB or type O blood:

But if you have type O blood, your red blood cells have no A or B markers. So:

Hemolytic Disease Of The Newborn

A pregnant woman may carry a fetus with a blood type which is different from her own. Typically, this is an issue if a Rh- mother has a child with a Rh+ father, and the fetus ends up being Rh+ like the father. In those cases, the mother can make IgG blood group antibodies. This can happen if some of the fetus’ blood cells pass into the mother’s blood circulation , or sometimes after a therapeutic blood transfusion. This can cause Rh disease or other forms of hemolytic disease of the newborn in the current pregnancy and/or subsequent pregnancies. Sometimes this is lethal for the fetus in these cases it is called hydrops fetalis. If a pregnant woman is known to have anti-D antibodies, the Rh blood type of a fetus can be tested by analysis of fetal DNA in maternal plasma to assess the risk to the fetus of Rh disease. One of the major advances of twentieth century medicine was to prevent this disease by stopping the formation of Anti-D antibodies by D negative mothers with an injectable medication called Rho immune globulin. Antibodies associated with some blood groups can cause severe HDN, others can only cause mild HDN and others are not known to cause HDN.

Read Also: Can Blood Pressure Medicine Cause Erectile Dysfunction

What Are Some Of These Blood Groups

The MNS blood group antigens were discovered in the 1920s by Karl Landsteiner . This is a complex blood group system found on some of the most important structural proteins on the surface of red cells. Its common to find antibodies to the M blood group in the plasma of patients, as these are sometimes formed after infection, and testing is required to ensure the patients anti-M antibodies do not destroy donated red blood cells.

Another blood group, the S/s variants, are named after Sydney, where the blood group was discovered. This blood group is signified by a particular type of molecule on the red blood cells that is a target of the malaria parasite. Interestingly, some people from Africa do not have these molecules on the surface of their cells at all, making them less likely to contract malaria.

A blood group known as Duffy is also associated with infection by another type of malaria . When this protein is absent from the red blood cells, the cells are resistant to infection by the malaria parasite. This protein is absent from the blood cells of 90% of sub-Saharan Africans, conferring malaria resistance on this population. Antibodies to the Duffy antigens are commonly found in a patients plasma and are a cause of transfusion reactions if carefully matched antigen negative blood is not given.

Know Your Blood Type Essentials

Like your eye colour and the shape of your nose, your blood type is inherited from your parents.

There are two systems that make up your blood type:

• Rhtype or group .

Your blood is a combination of the two systems.

• O positive
• AB positive
• AB negative.

Some are rarer than others, and some are more versatile but we love them all equally.

Some blood types are universal, which means they can be given to anyone:

• O negative red blood cells can be given to anyone, and are often used in emergencies.
• AB plasma, positive or negative, can be also given to anyone.

You May Like: High Blood Sugar Blurry Vision

Maps Of Abo Alleles Among Native Populations

In the ABO blood group system, there are three alleles: i, IA, and IB. As both IA and IB are dominant over i, only ii people have type O blood. Individuals with IAIA or IAi have type A blood, and individuals with IBIB or IBi have type B. Those with IAIB have type AB.

• Map of allele IA

• Map of blood group Oamong native populations

Understanding Abo And Rhesus

Doctors need to take into account both ABO and Rh when considering blood types. This means there are eight main blood types in the ABO/Rh blood group system. Some are more common than others.

According to the American Association of Blood Banks, the distribution of blood types in the U.S. are as follows:

Around 82% of people in the U.S. have Rh-positive blood. The rarest blood group type is AB negative.

These are the main types. Within the eight main groups, are there also many lesser-known and less common blood types.

Also Check: Why Can’t Diabetics Donate Blood

What Is The Most Common Blood Type

There are eight different blood types and each one holds a unique power to save lives.

But the most common blood type is O+, accounting for more than a third of all people . This means there is a higher demand for this blood type when it comes to blood transfusions.

Why are there different blood types?

There is evidence that the different blood types have evolved over millions of years, with type A being the most ancient.

The difference between the various blood types comes down to sugars that cover the surface of red blood cells. These sugars can be misinterpreted as foreign invaders by the bodys immune system when they dont match up correctly, making a mismatched blood transfusion potentially deadly.

For this reason, it is extremely important to find a compatible blood match for transfusion patients. With O+ being the most common blood type, having an available blood supply is critical.

What is the best donation procedure for those with O+ blood?

Those with O+ blood type are encouraged to choose Double Red Cell Donation. This kind of procedure takes twice as many red blood cells from the donor while leaving the platelets and plasma behind.

Its an efficient way for O+ donors to get more bang for their donation buck by helping to save even more lives!

Discover how you can best help those in your community by targeting your blood type and learning which donation method is best for you!

Oneblood Blog

How Is My Blood Type Determined

Its inherited. Like eye color, blood type is passed genetically from your parents. Whether your blood group is type A, B, AB or O is based on the blood types of your mother and father.

View all child parent pairings

* Note: If you have questions about paternity testing or about blood group inheritance, your primary care physician should be able to provide you with an appropriate referral. Testing difficulties can cause exceptions to the above patterns. ABO blood typing is not sufficient to prove or disprove paternity or maternity.

Ready to Help Save a Life?

Now that you know how your blood type can help recipients, please schedule an appointment to donate today.

You May Like: Can High Blood Sugar Cause Nausea