Types of blood

Hello my dear invisible friends.

Have you ever wondered why it is so important to know our blood type?

If you have not been asked, very bad friends, very bad.

If you asked it but did not seek the answer, this server has come to answer it.

When doctors tell you that "your blood group" is, for example, A +, they are talking about the classification of your blood. Where:

• A, corresponds to the type of antigen * that contains your blood

• +, corresponds to the Rh * factor, present or not present in your blood.

The classification of the blood is attributed to Karl Landsteiner, who in fact won a Nobel for this, because in 1901 he discovered the first way to classify blood, the ABO system.

ABO SYSTEM

Now, when we talk about antigen, we talk about a substance that triggers antibodies, that is, a substance that attacks whatever strange thing it gets. Therefore, it is important to know what your blood type is, because:

• If your blood type is A: it means that red blood cells contain antigen A, so you form antibodies against antigen B.

• If your blood type is B: it means that the red blood cells contain B antigen, thus forming antibody against antigens A.

• If your blood type is O: it means that your red blood cells have no antigen, therefore you have antibodies against A and B because you do not recognize them.

• If your blood type is AB: it means that your red blood cells contain antigens A and B antigens, therefore you do not have antibodies because A and B are known.

Paying close attention to the above, we know that:

• A: can receive blood from A and O

• B: can receive B and O blood

• O: you can receive blood only from O because A and B are strangers to it, but you can give blood to others (universal donor)

• AB: you can receive blood from everyone because you know everything, nothing is strange but you can only give blood to AB (universal receiver)

It is important to know that your blood type has been inherited from your parents, so your blood type may or may not be theirs (Thanks Mendel)

Progenitor O and Progenitor O = child O

Progenitor O and Progenitor A = child O or A

Progenitor O and Progenitor B = child O or B

Progenitor O and Progenitor AB = child B or A

Progenitor A and progenitor A = child O or A

Progenitor A and Progenitor B = child O, A, B or AB

Progenitor A and Progenitor AB = son A, B or AB 

Progenitor B and Progenitor B = child O or B

Progenitor B and Progenitor AB = child A, B or AB

Progenitor AB and Progenitor AB = son A, B or AB

FACTOR RHESUS OR Rh

It is a second system discovered by Dr Landsteiner, where Rh refers to a protein (or antigen) found in red blood cells, so you have this protein (positive +) or you do not have (negative -). For what a person that contains contains the Rh antigen can receive blood of a person that contains them or of a person that does not; But if a person does not contain Rh in their blood, they can only receive blood from another person who does not contain it.

Now, according to the Stanford University School of Medicine, the global percentages of individuals for each blood type are:

O-positive: 37.4%

Or negative: 6.6%

A positive: 35.7%

A negative: 6.3%

B-positive: 8.5%

B-negative: 1.5%

AB-positive: 3.4%

AB-negative: 0.6%

Being the group AB the one of smaller percentage, or the strangest one.

It is said that there are actually 30 blood groups but only the 8 groups we talked about are more common.

It is very important to know what our blood group is in case of an emergency.

It is also very important to donate blood, we would be saving lives, helping people in their moments of urgency, I hope you are encouraged to donate but it is advisable to have control tests to know if they are healthy before donating.

I hope you liked this post and I hope it has been very helpful.