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A(na)DCT | by ChicoScience | 2002-01-03 10:45:16 |
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Hey, Yatta Yatta! | by TehWinnar | 2006-11-19 12:55:59 |
| Not a doc at all, but I'll respond |
by Sehmket |
2002-01-03 18:51:35 |
The different letters correlate to different chemicals (uh... I think enzymes, but I'm not sure) in the blood. There are two possibilities (a or b), and you can have either one of these (a, b) both of these (ab) or neither of these (o, wich orrigonally was a 0, but was changed to a letter). Which one you have is determined by genetics, and you can have a different type than your mother (it was a long-held beleif that babies and mothers shared a bloodstream while in the womb).
The different blood types were discovered shortly after methods of transfusing blood effectively were developed. Someone would be given some blood, and it wasn't accepted by the body (much in the same way a kidny can be regeted - the immune system would attack it. Obviously this pulled from alredy streched reasouses, and the people often didn't live.) After some reaserch, doctors discovered the different types of blood, ab being the most common, and o being the least common.
But, there were still problems. Even after type screening, some people were still regecting the blood. As Rhesus monkeys have the same blood types as humans (in fact, they are bearly discernable from us, on a genetic level), more reascerch was done on them. On them (and eventually us), it was discovered that there also was an additional chemecal (enzyme?) - this is called the Rhesus Factor (or Rh Factor), and is abbreviated as + (present) or - (not present). The Rhesus Factor appears independtently of the blood types, and is not a type in and of itself.
As far as transfusions go, someone with something cannot give to someone who doesn't have it. For example, and AB+ person can accept from everyone, but only give to another AB+ person. An O- person can give to anyone, but can only receive from another O- person. If someone goes into a hospital, say a homeless man with a gunshot wound, who has an unknown bloodtype, they are automatically given O- blood. This is a large part of the reason blood banks are always in need of type O blood. Unfourtunatly, type O is also the most rare (about 3% of the population has it, I beleive). In any case EVERYONE should donate, as blood is ALWAYS needed. Contact your county's department of Health or Vital Stats to find someplace that accepts donations.
Does this help? Does anyone with more medical experience want to correct me? |
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