The blood group can affect the risks of developing diabetes mellitus or the propensity for infection, said on Tuesday, August 10, the doctor of the online medical service SberZdorovye Dmitry Zlobin in an interview with Izvestia.
In total, according to the specialist, the International Society of Blood Transfusion recognizes the presence of 43 blood groups of people. Zlobin explained that there are a number of complex molecules on the surface of erythrocytes, which are arranged differently in different people. The presence of similar in structure unites people into one blood group.
“If the human immune system encounters blood of another group, for example, during a transfusion or childbirth, it will perceive these molecules as foreign antigens like bacteria or viruses and destroy them. Massive destruction of foreign erythrocytes inside the human body can have catastrophic consequences, ”the doctor said.
Zlobin also noted that there are studies and assumptions about the relationship between the blood group and the bacterial composition of an individual (microbiome). For example, some studies suggest that people with blood type zero (“1”) have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. According to other assumptions, people with group B (“2nd”) have a high risk of developing hypertension. There is also a hypothesis that children with blood types B and AB are more likely to suffer from E. coli infections.
“Recently, there has been a lot of research on the relationship between blood types and the course of COVID-19 disease. Several articles have reported a higher susceptibility to it in people with blood group A (“2nd”) and lowest in people with blood group 0 (“1st”), but none were able to show an effect on clinical outcomes of this communication (lower or higher frequency of hospitalization, severity of the course and mortality) “, – said the doctor.
According to the expert, these results are currently insufficient for practical application.
A study was published on June 21 stating that the coronavirus is capable of affecting the size and stiffness of red and white blood cells, as well as deforming certain cells. Moreover, some of these changes were observed in patients seven months after hospitalization.