As I Live and Learn
 

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Rare Blood Types

Everyone knows there are three standard blood antigens that tell you what your Blood Group is: A, B, and O. Which can combine to form one of four possibilities: OO (called O), AO and OA (called A), BO and OB (called B), and AB.

And, of course, everyone knows that after the letter(s) there is a positive or negative. That + or - stands for whether or not your blood has the Rhesus (Rh) antigen.

But there exist rare blood types outside of the standard eight.

Here appears to be a comprehensive list of rare blood types. I had no idea there were so many! I knew about Duffy-negative, which is primarily found in people with strong African ancestry. I also knew about U- and Jk(b), which are also found only in Black Americans. But it turns out there are a whole lot more: MASTER CHART of RARE BLOOD TYPES

Though I just found out from the Red Cross's website that "there are more than 600 known antigens besides A and B that characterize the proteins found on a person's red cells"! No wonder there are so many rare blood types! Makes me wonder how the eight dominate got so. One in A Million: The American Rare Donor Program

Life Share blood centers have a chart of the rare types for African Americans, and the probability of finding them in our population: Blood Facts | Rare Traits

Lastly, here's something never heard of before: someone's blood type actually changed. Following a Liver transplant, not only did this teen's immune system completely accept the organ (VERY rare), but her blood type had changed to match the blood type of the donor!! Transplant 'miracle' for teen

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