He blood type of a person it is related to your chances of suffering an early stroke, or of having a severe case of COVID-19. It can also be a risk factor when dealing with severe trauma. While in the first cases people with type A blood group are targeted as the most vulnerable, in terms of surviving a serious accident alive, the worst scenario is drawn for type 0.
The 4 main blood types are: Type A, Type B, Type AB, and Type 0. Known as golden blood, the Rh-null group (RH null), the rarest blood type, it is present in only 43 people worldwide.
Blood group categorizes blood based on the presence or absence of antigens —
proteins in red blood cells—and Rhesus factor, which classifies you as Rh positive (+), or Rh negative (-) if you don’t have it.
Depending on the type of antigen, it will be classified as type A, B, AB, or type 0. “When antigens come into contact with substances that are unfamiliar to your body, such as certain bacteria, trigger a response from your immune system“explains Douglas Guggenheim, a Penn Medicine physician specializing in oncology-hematology.
Therefore, when receiving a transfusion from a different blood group, your blood cells act and can cause life-threatening complications. What makes it necessary to know the blood type of a person before medical intervention. It can also influence at risk of certain diseases.
This is due to a gene called ABO genewhich in a very simplistic way could be said to be present in people with blood types A, B or AB, but not in type 0.
Cancer and blood group, is there a relationship?
The ABO gene encodes glycosyltransferase enzymes that transfer specific sugar residues to the H antigen. There are 3 variant alleles (A, B, and O), encoding 3 different glycosyltransferases.
Thus the A allele encodes the enzyme that binds N-acetylgalactosamine to the H antigen to form the A antigen. The B allele encodes α1R3 galactosyl-transferase and the O allele encodes a nonfunctional glycosyltransferase and, therefore, the H antigen remains unchanged.
These variations in protein sequence between individuals do not just determine blood group. They could also have an impact on health. For example, it has been associated with an increased risk of coronary artery disease.
7 Simple Lifestyle Changes to Reduce Your Risk of Cancer
The ABO gene could also play a role in the development of cancer. This gene has been linked to types of cancer, including lung, breast, colorectal, prostate, and cervix.
A meta-analysis of observational studies analyzed data relating to 100,554 cases drawn from a total of 89 investigations. The results revealed that the blood group A is associated with an increased risk of cancer while type 0 is associated with a decrease in it.
“This correlation has been studied for more than 60 years and although research continues to show an association, there is no definitive explanation for why the ABO gene may increase the risk of some types of cancerr”, they maintain from Penn Medicine.
Gastric cancer
The role of the ABO gene in gastric cancer was initially suggested more than 60 years ago, with the clinical observation that Patients with this tumor were more likely to have blood group A than controls.
Since then numerous investigations have pointed to similar results. Compared to blood group 0, both the Type A and AB are associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer. This was evidenced by a 2019 study that determined the ABO genotype in 4,932 cases of gastric cancer and 6,158 controls of Chinese ancestry
In 2012, a study evaluated the association between ABO blood groups and the risk of gastric cancer or infection by Helicobacter pylori. “In our case-control study, the risk of gastric cancer in blood group A was significantly higher than in the non-A groups (O, B, and AB),” the authors conclude. So was the probability of infection.
Weight loss, changes in regularity, or bloody stools These are some of the symptoms that may indicate the presence of this disease.
pancreatic cancer
It is one of the deadliest tumors due to its absence of symptoms in the initial stages, among whose risk factors could be a person’s blood group.
This was determined by a 2009 study with researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, which confirmed the link between blood type and risk of developing the disease.
The finding, published by the Journal of the National Cancer Instituteshows that although people’s overall risk of pancreatic cancer is relatively low, those with type A blood were 32% more likely to have itType AB had a 51% increased chance and Type B had a 72% increased chance compared to Type 0 — so the risk was still low.
Signs you might be suffering from one of the ‘deadliest’ cancers
The results were based on an analysis of blood type and pancreatic cancer occurrence in participants of 2 large follow-up studies in the US population, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up.
The researchers then speculated that changes in the activity of the ABO gene, linked to these blood groups, they can interfere with the ability of cells to send signals and stick to each other; also with the ability of the immune system to detect abnormal cells.
Pain in the area, vomiting, nausea or weight loss are, along with jaundice, some of the most characteristic symptoms of pancreatic cancer.
breast cancer
The Caucasian women with type A blood may be at higher risk of breast cancer than other Caucasians, found a meta-analysis that included 9,665 breast cancer patients and 244,768 controls conducted in 2013.
In 2017, a review of studies determined that the blood group A and Rh + have “a high risk” of this type of tumor, while type AB and R – showed less probability of breast cancer. However, it is a small work since it only included 25 research articles.
Multiple myeloma
ABO blood type may influence survival in multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that are located in the bone marrow and are an important component of the immune system.
As a 2022 study points out. After analyzing data from 1,173 patients with multiple myeloma, the median survival time for patients with blood type 0 was 250 days longer than that of the other blood types.
Type 0 was also associated with the longest duration between treatments, averaging 2,027 days compared with 1,882 days for blood type AB, 1,762 for type A, and 1,747 for type B.
