Golden Blood

A man’s “golden blood” saves 2 million lives and counting!

Having the 'golden blood' can be dangerous. Fewer than 50 people worldwide have it. Whether you have certain ones determines your full blood type. In 1961, scientists stumbled upon a new blood type they thought impossible: one called Rh-null, meaning it's lacking all 61 antigens in the Rh system.

In reality, the eight common blood types are an oversimplification of how blood types actually work. As Smithsonian.com points out, "Each of these eight types can be subdivided into many distinct varieties," resulting in millions of different blood types, each classified on a multitude of antigens combinations.

Here is where things get tricky. The RhD protein only refers to one of 61 potential proteins in the Rh system. Blood is considered Rh-null if it lacks all of the 61 possible antigens in the Rh system. This not only makes it rare, but this also means it can be accepted by anyone with a rare blood type within the Rh system. This is why it is considered the "golden blood"; it is worth its weight in gold!

Golden blood is incredibly important to medicine, but also very dangerous to live with. If an Rh-null carrier needs a blood transfusion, they can find it difficult to locate a donor, and blood is notoriously difficult to transport internationally. Rh-null carriers are encouraged to donate blood as insurance for themselves, but with so few donors spread out over the world and limits on how often they can donate, this can also put an altruistic burden on those select few who agree to donate for others.

Do you know your blood type? O, A, B, or AB

Knowing your blood type can help you improve your health and even save your life in extreme situations. Also, it can say a lot about you personally!

Japanese researchers have been studying blood types for decades and have found a surprising connection between a person’s character traits and blood group.

We’re all well-aware that blood has different “types,” but what exactly does that mean?

In a nutshell, a blood type is based on two things: antibodies and antigens. An antibody is a protein produced by your blood’s plasma that helps your immune system fight different things that make you sick, like bacteria and viruses. Antigens, which are classified as A or B, can be different proteins, carbohydrates, and all sorts of complex biological compounds.

What are the major blood types?

Type O-negative blood is called the universal donor type because it is compatible with any blood type. Type AB-positive blood is called the universal recipient type because a person who has it can receive blood of any type.

The approximate distribution of blood types in the U.S. population for example is as follows:

• O-positive: 38%, O-negative: 07%, A-positive: 34%, A-negative: 06%, B-positive: 09%, B-negative: 02%, AB-positive: 03%, AB-negative: 01%

 What you can eat

That depends on your blood type. Here's what naturopathic physician Peter D'Adamo recommends for each type:

• Type O blood: A high-protein diet heavy on lean meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables, and light on grains, beans, and dairy. D'Adamo also recommends various supplements to help with tummy troubles and other issues he says people with type O tend to have.
• Type A blood: A meat-free diet based on fruits and vegetables, beans and legumes, and whole grains -- ideally, organic and fresh, because D'Adamo says people with type A blood have a sensitive immune system.
• Type B blood: Avoid corn, wheat, buckwheat, lentils, tomatoes, peanuts, and sesame seeds. Chicken is also problematic, D'Adamo says. He encourages eating green vegetables, eggs, certain meats, and low-fat dairy.
• Type AB blood: Foods to focus on include tofu, seafood, dairy, and green vegetables. He says people with type AB blood tend to have low stomach acid. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and smoked or cured meats.

More to it

You’ll be blown away by these eye opening things your blood type says about you! If you’ve never taken the time to research your blood type you’re in luck because we’ve done it for you! If you want to know about the A positive blood type personality or if a B positive blood type really gives you a positive personality, we have got you covered. Many think that your blood type can tell you a lot about a person, from their personality to what diet works best for them, and we think that it’s a list worth watching. Call the phlebotomist and get ready to learn these 25 Eye Opening Things Your Blood Type Says About You.

Did you know that have an O blood type is basically a superpower (at least against mosquitos)? Or that B blood types have very strange abundance of friendly bacteria? Here are blood type facts that cover every aspect of your life from what you eat to facts that can save your life! If you’re a fan of the Ketsueki-Gata study or just want to learn more about what your blood type says about your personality you have to watch this video. Get ready to learn something new about your blood type.

Our (brief) bloody history

Our ancestors understood little about blood. Even the most basic of blood knowledge — blood inside the body is good, blood outside is not ideal, too much blood outside is cause for concern — escaped humanity's grasp for an embarrassing number of centuries.

Absence this knowledge, our ancestors devised less-than-scientific theories as to what blood was, theories that varied wildly across time and culture. To pick just one, the physicians of Shakespeare's day believed blood to be one of four bodily fluids or "humors" (the others being black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm).

Handed down from ancient Greek physicians, humorism stated that these bodily fluids determined someone's personality. Blood was considered hot and moist, resulting in a sanguine temperament. The more blood people had in their systems, the more passionate, charismatic, and impulsive they would be. Teenagers were considered to have a natural abundance of blood, and men had more than women.

Humorism lead to all sorts of poor medical advice. Most famously, Galen of Pergamum used it as the basis for his prescription of bloodletting. Sporting a "when in doubt, let it out" mentality, Galen declared blood the dominant humor, and bloodletting an excellent way to balance the body. Blood's relation to heat also made it a go-to for fever reduction.

While bloodletting remained common until well into the 19th century, William Harvey's discovery of the circulation of blood in 1628 would put medicine on its path to modern hematology.

Soon after Harvey's discovery, the earliest blood transfusions were attempted, but it wasn't until 1665 that first successful transfusion was performed by British physician Richard Lower. Lower's operation was between dogs, and his success prompted physicians like Jean-Baptiste Denis to try to transfuse blood from animals to humans, a process called xenotransfusion. The death of human patients ultimately led to the practice being outlawed.4

The first successful human-to-human transfusion wouldn't be performed until 1818, when British obstetrician James Blundell managed it to treat postpartum hemorrhage. But even with a proven technique in place, in the following decades many blood-transfusion patients continued to die mysteriously.

Enter Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner. In 1901 he began his work to classify blood groups. Exploring the work of Leonard Landois — the physiologist who showed that when the red blood cells of one animal are introduced to a different animal's, they clump together — Landsteiner thought a similar reaction may occur in intra-human transfusions, which would explain why transfusion success was so spotty. In 1909, he classified the A, B, AB, and O blood groups, and for his work he received the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

 What causes blood types?

It took us a while to grasp the intricacies of blood, but today, we know that this life-sustaining substance consists of:

• Red blood cells are cells that carry oxygen and remove carbon dioxide throughout the body;
• White blood cells are immune cells that protect the body against infection and foreign agents;
• Platelets are cells that help blood clot; and
• Plasma is a liquid that carries salts and enzymes.

Each component has a part to play in blood's function, but the red blood cells are responsible for our differing blood types. These cells have proteins* covering their surface called antigens, and the presence or absence of particular antigens determines blood type — type A blood has only A antigens, type B only B, type AB both, and type O neither. Red blood cells sport another antigen called the RhD protein. When it is present, a blood type is said to be positive; when it is absent, it is said to be negative. The typical combinations of A, B, and RhD antigens give us the eight common blood types (A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, and O-).

Blood antigen proteins play a variety of cellular roles, but recognizing foreign cells in the blood is the most important for this discussion.

Think of antigens as backstage passes to the bloodstream, while our immune system is the doorman. If the immune system recognizes an antigen, it lets the cell pass. If it does not recognize an antigen, it initiates the body's defense systems and destroys the invader. So, a very aggressive doorman.

While our immune systems are thorough, they are not too bright. If a person with type A blood receives a transfusion of type B blood, the immune system won't recognize the new substance as a life-saving necessity. Instead, it will consider the red blood cells invaders and attack. This is why so many people either grew ill or died during transfusions before Landsteiner's brilliant discovery.

This is also why people with O negative blood are considered "universal donors." Since their red blood cells lack A, B, and RhD antigens, immune systems don't have a way to recognize these cells as foreign and so leaves them well enough alone.

Metaphorically, you would know what your car runs on before pulling into the next gas station! That in mind, you should be aware of your blood type and the one of those in your life, as knowing what each is running on can be a game changer, specially in an emergency situation...

Food for thought!