Many people are seduced by the idea that their blood type determines their personality, or that certain foods can improve a person's health based on their blood type. While these beliefs are not necessarily scientific, a recent study shows that a certain blood type can influence the fact that some people may be more predisposed than others to be affected by certain diseases.
Researchers say that specific types of blood have an increased risk of developing blood clots, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and other bleeding conditions, as well as pregnancy-induced hypertension. In addition, the study revealed a link between blood types B and O and the formation of kidney stones.
Preliminary research shows that people with blood type A or B are more at risk of heart disease, while those with blood type O are more likely to suffer from a bleeding disorder. Over 5 million people in Sweden were part of a study to see if their ABO blood group or RhD-positive/negative blood groups were associated with certain diseases.
The team compared blood types with more than 1,000 health disorders. The data revealed 49 diseases linked to specific blood groups, and one disorder linked to the RhD group. "There is still very little information available, whether people with RhD-positive or RhD-negative blood groups may be more at risk of certain diseases, or how many other diseases may be related to this blood group," says the lead author of study Torsten Dahlen of the Department of Medicine, Solna, at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
"To help fill this gap, we used an unbiased approach to investigate the relationship between ABO blood types and RhD groups and more than 1,000 diseases," he said.
The study shows that people with blood type A are more at risk of developing blood clot type DBT. Meanwhile, people with blood group O were more at risk of developing hemorrhage. In addition, women with type O or RhD antigen (positive blood group) were more susceptible to high blood pressure during pregnancy.
People with blood type B were found to have a reduced incidence of kidney stones. According to the findings, individuals with blood type AB were not associated with any of the specific diseases associated with the other types.
However, more research is needed to verify the findings and identify whether or not there are alternative reasons for these associations between specific blood types and an increased risk of specific diseases. / StudyFinds
