Blood type might be a clue to heart disease risk

[longnecker]

• DALLAS (AP) — Here's another reason to know your blood type — it might be a clue to your risk ofheart disease.

People who have blood types A, B, or AB have a slightly higher risk of heart disease compared to those with type O, the most common kind, according to research released Tuesday.
Those who know they are at higher risk may be more motivated to make changes to lower their chances of heart disease, said Dr. Lu Qi, senior author of the study from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"We cannot change blood type but we can change lifestyle," said Qi, who led a study released last year that showed blood type may affect stroke risk.
The new study involved about 90,000 men and women in two observational health studies that cover more than 20 years. Combined, 4,070 people developed heart disease. The researchers considered age and other factors like diet, drinking, family history of heart attacks that could contribute to heart disease.
The increased risk for type A was 8 percent; type B, 11 percent; and type AB, 20 percent.
While the study did not examine how blood type may affect heart disease risk, it noted that research has shown some characteristics of different types may be a factor. For instance, some research suggests that blood types might affect cholesterol levels or the risk of developing blood clots.
The findings were published in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
A doctor not involved in the study cautioned that the increased risk for non-O blood types is modest, and that other risk factors like smoking have a bigger impact.
"Most of things that are this modest, most of the time they don't meaningfully change how you'd think about your risk overall," said Dr. Amit Khera, director of the Preventive Cardiology Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
"This shouldn't cause much alarm for most of the population," he added.
No matter what blood type, Harvard's Qi said everyone should pay attention to risk factors they can change, including smoking, weight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a sedentary lifestyle.
Type O is the most common blood type, followed by A, B and AB. About 45 percent of whites, 51 percent of blacks, 57 percent of Hispanics and 40 percent of Asians have blood type O, according to the American Red Cross.
Type A: 40 percent of whites, 26 percent of blacks, 31 percent of Hispanics and 28 percent of Asians.
Type B: 11 percent of whites, 19 percent of blacks, 10 percent of Hispanics and 25 percent of Asians.
Type AB: 4 percent of white and blacks, 2 percent of Hispanics and 7 percent of Asians.
http://news.yahoo.com/blood-type-mig...201400287.html

[motherof3]

I'm AB+ ...........yay!!! My father's family has a history of heart attack/stroke.

[hockey]

BLOOD TYPE BY WORLD POPULATION

O positive is the most common blood type. Not all ethnic groups have the same mix of these blood types. Hispanic people, for example, have a relatively high number of O’s, while Asian people have a relatively high number of B’s. The mix of the different blood types in the U.S. population is:

	Caucasians	African American	Hispanic	Asian
O +	37%	47%	53%	39%
O -	8%	4%	4%	1%
A +	33%	24%	29%	27%
A -	7%	2%	2%	0.5%
B +	9%	18%	9%	25%
B -	2%	1%	1%	0.4%
AB +	3%	4%	2%	7%
AB -	1%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%

My Dad has AB negative and I swear his blood is magical. It's self healing... I've seen it! He's in his 80's and has never in his entire life taken a single pill or any kind of medicine for anything ... prescribed or OTC (aside from the mandatory polio, etc vaccines when he was too young to protest against it). He thinks if a person takes an aspirin that they are weak. His mantra..."mind of matter".

Therefore.... I disagree with those results. Or at the very least, they didn't have enough AB negs to conduct a proper study.

[Curly]

I don't think blood type really matters at this point.



Another useless study. There are to many other factors that make blood type irrelevant.

My Dad has AB negative and I swear his blood is magical. It's self healing... I've seen it!

Ok, you have my attention. What did you see?

[Jessica]

I'm B-. Less than 2% of the Caucasian population, and since I'm "mixed" that brings me to an even lower percentage.

I had a good friend in college who was all about eating foods that catered to a specific blood type. B's are supposed to be different from those who have O and A blood types, and therefore should eat different foods and live different lifestyles. Allegedly, people with B blood types originated in the area around China/Japan/India/Tibet/Pakistan/Mongolia and should eat foods that are native to those areas. We're talking thousands of years ago, it's not like everyone with B type blood has grandparents from the region. According to the blood type diet, I should stay away from corn, peanut butter, chicken, tomatoes, and wheat.

Good luck staying away from those things with a 3 and 4 year old in your house. Chicken is our go to meat.

I should, as a B, at a lot of green veggies, lamb, eggs, goat, rabbit, and venison. Seriously? Could I not have gotten a cow thrown in there?

Needless to say, eating to my blood type is difficult, if not impossible. I'm not serving venison or goat to my toddlers, and I can't eliminate sweet summer corn from my diet. If God made me like this, why would he have made me love corn on the cob so much?

[Curly]

[Bellicose]

No clue what blood type I am, although I am curious.

[Crabby]

I'm an O negative... a universal donor for negative blood. My donation usually gets snapped up for direct use and doesn't stick around long enough to be spun out and saved.
Bell, aren't you a blood bank member? If not ,unless you can't donate, I strongly recommend it. Then you'll know what your blood type is too. It's not a big deal to donate and you'll be paid in cookies and OJ or soda.

[Bellicose]

No I am not a Blood Bank member, to be honest I was told before I can't give blood within I think a year of getting a tattoo, and for a while I was getting one every year. Onto the real reason why now I don't. I really don't like to give blood, I dread it every time the Doctor sends me. Kind of got used to it for a little a few years ago. Because I was giving blood every 30 days, so my Dermaltologist could keep an eye on some levels. First time I gave blood, I felt like I was going to pass out, and they had to use the butterfly needle on me, fom what I was told that's the kid needle. Think it's a little better now, and don't ask for the butterfly anymore. Still can't watch the blood come out though. I would like to give blood though. I'm sure one day I will get over my complete fear of it. Especially if there is cookies, donuts and soda involved. Maybe some orange juice, will do.....lol

[Jessica]

Don't forget you can also pay for blood bank membership instead of donating. I belong, but I write a check instead of donating. My real reason is my total and complete fear of needles, I'll be honest. Even getting bloodwork gets me so nervous that I feel like I'm going to pass out before I even get in the chair. I should just suck it up and do it, but I justify it by telling myself that with my money than can get blood that's more universally donated than B. But... really, it's the needle.

[cracker]

I don't think blood type really matters at this point.



Another useless study. There are to many other factors that make blood type irrelevant.

Ok, so my blood type is "gravy." Stop posting my pic on the internet...

[Curly]

I donate platelets for the free movies and a tee-shirt. They tell you that it counts for 3 donations. What they don't tell you is they'll call you every 3 weeks to donate more platelets.

[EpicWin]

[Crabby]

As far as I know, and I could be wrong, our blood bank doesn't buy blood, money in lieu of donation pays for the blood letting and lab supplies and those cookies and OJ. Does anyone know better? Membership is a real bargain, even if one pays instead of donates. To have to buy blood is very expensive. Curly, I'm proud of ya!

[Jessica]

As far as I know, and I could be wrong, our blood bank doesn't buy blood, money in lieu of donation pays for the blood letting and lab supplies and those cookies and OJ. Does anyone know better? Membership is a real bargain, even if one pays instead of donates. To have to buy blood is very expensive. Curly, I'm proud of ya!

You're probably right about the not buying blood, but relying on blood donations. I don't know much about it, but that would make sense. Maybe this will be the year that I make a real donation. Baby steps!

[Curly]

As far as I know, and I could be wrong, our blood bank doesn't buy blood, money in lieu of donation pays for the blood letting and lab supplies and those cookies and OJ. Does anyone know better? Membership is a real bargain, even if one pays instead of donates. To have to buy blood is very expensive. Curly, I'm proud of ya!

Thanks Crabby. Been a member for about 23 years now. It paid for itself already. My wife had a bad year back in 09. Complications from surgery and she needed 4 units of blood and one of platelets. I heard one unit is over a grand if you're not a member. It's pretty good insurance that you hope you'll never need. Go for it Jessica. It covers your family too.