Blood types and do they matter?

The first person I ever donated to happen to be Rhesus negative,  At the time I faintly recall being O+ but I had to double check and make sure because it never really had any relevance in my life until that point in time. So, before I even had any idea about a females ovulation cycle, the first real lesson I learnt in this donor conception fertility world was blood types strangely enough, With my yearning for learning I wanted to understand what the word Rhesus even meant? But more importantly is blood type relevant when it comes to creating a child?

A History lesson on Rhesus and how it affects Mother and Child

The word Rhesus (Rh) comes from the species of monkey that shares 93% of the same DNA as humans, Karl Landsteiner and Alexander S. Wiener discovered the Rhesus Factor in 1937. From that point future scientific breakthroughs were imminent for Blood Transfusions and Haemolytic disease.

There are 5 types of anti-gens associated with human blood in Rh negative people the D antigen isn’t present. As a recipient it is important to know what your blood type is, if you are Rh negative, find out what blood type your potential donor is whether he is + or -, these days the risk is minimal and shouldn’t be a deal breaker in limiting your donor choice. Although you will have to Anti D injections to protect you during pregnancy make your doctor aware from the very start if they haven’t already addressed it with you.

So, what is the big deal behind this, why does the doctor need to be aware? The problem arises when the recipient carrying the child has Rh negative blood and her unborn child is Rh positive this is known as Rh incompatibility. The mother’s immune system will start to produce antibodies if the foetus and mother’s mix blood during pregnancy or during labour, when this happens it is known as RH sensitization. An unborn babies red blood cells can be destroyed by these anti-bodies created by the mother that pass through the placenta.

A child that been exposed to Rh sensitization can develop mild to severe problems known as Rh disease, haemolytic disease or erythroblastosis fetalis in severe cases if not treated could lead to the death of the child. In most cases though Rh sensitization impact on the current baby’s health is usually not impacted. It is much more of a future concern for any subsequent pregnancies that will affect a future sibling who is Rh positive, women who have been affected previously may have trouble carrying a child to full term. If you have been affected discuss with your doctor your only option maybe using a only Rh negative donor for future pregnancies.

By divulging this information you maybe already horrified, however I can assure you the risks these days are minimal, most doctors will routinely test expectant mothers at the start of the pregnancy, so you they  can get their Rh immune globulin vaccine shot (the Anti D Injection) straight away and you usually receive one after birth as well for caution this in the past wasn’t always done, so be sure to follow up on that, get it done cover all bases and mother will be fine.

What Blood type could my potential child have?

Blood is fascinating every person has two genes that determine blood type therefore children may not inherit the exact same blood type as their biological parents. A classic example of this is, if a couple have a child together and one parent has blood type A while the other parent has blood type B any of their future offspring could have a total of 4 different blood types A, B, O or AB.

Most clinics will have selection criteria where their customers can pick a desired blood type of their donor specifically. By electing this you’re reducing the number of donors available to. This criteria selection option use to be endorsed back in the past by many clinics to keep it secret from the child that they were donor conceived. Quite a few heterosexual couples still consider this selection criteria to this very day despite being advised not to lie to child about their biological background. Prior to modern day online DNA ancestry linkage sites a common way for a child stumbling across something being not quite right about their biological history was finding out that they have incompatible blood type from their parents.

Below is a common table that many clinics have similar variations of for their customers explaining blood types and options in who you can pick to suit your own blood types.

If the Couple’s blood types are:	The Donor’s blood type may be:
A and A	A or O
A and B	A, B, or O
A nd O	A or O
B and B	B or O
B and O	B or O
O and O	O

If the recipient is AB and the male is:	The Donor may be:
A	Any
B	Any
O	O
AB	Any

If the male is AB and the recipient is:	The Donor should be:	The Donor can’t be:
A	AB	O
B	AB	O
O	AB	O
AB	Any

Why do we have different type of Blood Groups?

So where did these blood groups come from? Why is there different blood types? We are all human right why isn’t our blood the same? Well the theory behind why our blood types are different originated in the 1950s due to evolution and the theory is diet maybe behind it. People all around the world would be exposed to different lifestyles and what they had to eat at their disposal. Blood type O is said to have evolved from hunter/gatherers who lived primarily on meat and therefore should eat a lot of meat. I found this rather interesting as a person who has taken a close eye on his diet I noticed that High protein/low carb diets have always been the most effective for me and I was very self-aware that dairy and grains were not my friends.

Blood type A are believed to have originated from early farmers, it is believed they thrive on a more vegetarian like diet. Opposed to my kind that should eat more meat, A theory for people with type A blood, they will lose weight quickly initially if they remove it from their diet.

Blood type B possess strong immune system and tolerant digestive systems. It is believed they evolved from nomadic tribes and particularly thrive on dairy products. The flexible digestive system can be linked to the high number of good bacteria associated in these occupant’s guts. People with B blood can contain up to 50,000 times more the number of friendly bacteria than people with type A or O blood. The foods to stay away from to watch weight for Type B people are peanuts, sesame seeds, corn, lentils and buckwheat.

Finally, Blood Type AB they believe this is the most recently evolved blood type which makes sense as only 3% of the population in Australia have this type of blood and as they share comparable components of blood type A and B, these people diets should consist of a combination of vegetarian and dairy. Who would of thought talking about blood type would be associated with which diet maybe more beneficial for you?

Moving on I got to say as a donor and human-being living in society I am chuffed for having O blood (call me bias) 49% of people in Australia carry this type (largest pool) there is many hidden benefits that the everyday person wouldn’t even realise, having different blood types isn’t just a trivial attribute it can impact our lives differently based on the blood flowing through our veins. For instance, people with blood type O will never have to worry about their blood being out of stock at the blood bank if they require it medically as it is so abundant.

though “Type O’s are more prone to problems that arise from an inability to clear stress hormones from their system quickly,” According to Doctor Ginger Nash a specialist naturopathic physician. Although in his studies he mentions, compared to other blood types it takes more of an issue to get a type O person stressed but it will also take more longer for them to de-stress as well. I can relate to his findings as am generally a carefree spirit that doesn’t get stressed over the little things in life, however when something of significance does happen I can overthink and stew on matters.  Summarising it though if being blood type O and destressing is my biggest concern well that isn’t much to stress over compared to what other blood types are more prone to.

So, while Blood Type O people have trouble de-stressing the real stress heads are people that carry blood type A. This is because higher levels of cortisol otherwise known as the stress hormone are likely to be found in higher levels of their occupant’s bodies. I would love to do my own research on this one day as I wonder if people with this blood type are more likely to be into Tai Chi and Yoga.

In 2010 Yale University released a study researching bacterial infection showing that all other blood types that aren’t O type are at a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. The reason associated to this is a common species of bacteria that lives inside people’s guts called Helicobacter pylori. These bacteria are known to thrive on A and B antigens which of course people with blood type O don’t carry on the surface of their red blood cells.

There have been several studies conducted over the years that have confirmed that type 2 diabetes has a greater likelihood in Blood types other than type O. A specific study by Gustave Roussy Institute in France analysed a whopping 82,104 women to investigate blood type and diabetes to establish any trends. The Results were published in the journal Diabetologia. The findings concluded in comparison of blood type O that women with blood type A, were 17% higher, blood type B were 35% higher and blood type AB 26% higher chance of having type 2 diabetes. The study didn’t identify any patterns on positive or negative type blood.

The benefit of having O blood continue when you look at Heart Disease, Heart attacks or stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. People with the blood type AB are the most prone with a reported 23% increase of chance over someone with type O blood. One of the theories behind this is blood with different anti-gens can be more prone to clotting.

People with AB blood are 82% more likely to experience memory related problems of the likes of attention to detail, language, memory recall. Researchers link this to what they call coagulation factor VIII a clotting protein that may affect the quality of blood flowing to the brain.

However, having the O blood type doesn’t make you superior another 2011 Yale University study found that a group of women in their 30s who sought out medical fertile assistance. It was discovered that those with Blood Type O were more likely to have a diminished ovarian reserve compared to other blood type women. Ovarian reserve can be measured with FSH test strips that are included in Sperm Donation World’s Grand Daddy Deluxe kits. It was an important addition to the kits because it has allowed some women who haven’t had their fertility tested via a specialist to be able to get a wiggle on when high levels were detected in their pee. Also one small mention to people with type O blood have very slightly higher chance of skin cancers.

For the record listed below is the Australian Red Cross Blood Service statistics for percentage of blood groups.

• O positive – 40 per cent.
• O negative – 9 per cent.
• A positive – 31 per cent.
• A negative – 7 per cent.
• B positive – 8 per cent.
• B negative – 2 per cent.
• AB positive – 2 per cent.
• AB negative – 1 per cent.

Blood group percentages do vary depending on country this map of Europe shows an interesting range of variance.

The Importance of Blood and its role in pregnancy

Blood groups aside the actual blood flow circulating around your body is an important tool in falling pregnant. Blood delivers oxygen, nutrients and hormones throughout the body it’s essentially the delivery system like Australia Post is to our Ai Kits. You may of came across the term unexplained infertility, for many women labelled with this a common similarity is that they feel cold easily and have poor circulation that could related to pins and needles, cramping to areas such as hands and feet. More silently this can also translate to the ovaries and uterus also that can severely impact your baby dreams.

If your body possess some poor circulation signs there is a couple of ways of improving that blood flow. First being a femoral massage that will help stimulate ovulation you begin this massage as soon as the period finishes up until the point of ovulation, from then onwards you stop just in case you are pregnant.

 There are several videos of YouTube demonstrating various explanations and variations on doing it.

Alternatively, if you can’t watch a video right now here is another how to guide.

1. Find the crease between your upper thigh and abdomen (along your panty line).
2. Using your fingertips, slowly work your way along and locate the femoral artery which you will feel pulsing.
3. Press down deeply into the artery until you feel the pulse stop.
4. Hold for 30-45 seconds allowing the blood flow to gather in the uterus and ovaries.
5. Release the pressure and natural blood flow will resume. You will feel a warm rush as the blood returns down your leg.
6. Repeat on the opposite side.
7. And then gently massage your belly in clockwise rotations nourishing the uterus and ovaries.
8. Repeat the exercise up to three times twice daily preceding ovulation. 

Another alternative is supplements to increase blood flow and to also deliver those nutrients to the reproductive organs so they develop the ideal environment to not only produce good eggs, but for implantation. A good blood flow also prepares your endometrial lining to allow the embryo to stick and continue developing avoiding miscarriage. Listed below are some of vitamins and supplements that will increase your blood flow. Also good blood flow assist in men’s sperm production so gentlemen your not off the hook either.

	Lake Avenue Nutrition, Vitamin E Widens blood vessels so that blood can easily travel through them at ease increasing flow. The body also uses Vitamin E to create red blood cells.
	21st Century, L-Arginine An Amino acid that the body converts to a nitric acid, that helps promote healthy blood pressure. Can help reduce cold or tingling sensations from those that experience poor blood flow.
	Life Extension, Aspirin A known blood thinner that helps prevent clotting.
	MusclePharm, Essentials, Fish Oil Fish Oil ss great protection for blood vessels, reduces inflammation and blood clots.
	Natrol, Cinnamon Extract A spice that relaxes blood vessels and improves blood flow through the arteries.
	Nature’s Way, Resveratrol What gives grapes their colour and why they say red wine is good for the heart. It benefits us by keeping the cells that line our blood vessels healthy and maintains good blood pressure.
	Natural Factors, Celery Seed Celery includes a compound called 3nB. This compound supports healthy veins and arteries therefore assisting in a healthy blood flow.
	Garden of Life, RAW CoQ10 Helps improve and maintain overall circulation in our bodies by inhibiting blood clot formation.