Do you know your blood type?
- Thread starter RoJoHen
- Start date
I once had blood drawn to determine if I had mono. Just a tiny little vile, and I passed out. I will not be donating anytime soon.
Ditto. O-
AB-. I thought blood type was something that every adult knows, so I'm always a little surprised when I meet one who doesn't. Maybe the latter comment should be posted in another thread...?
My parents made sure all four of us kids knew, and the reason is that the oldest three (of which I am one) all have the same blood type, and it's fairly rare, so if one of us ever needs a lot of blood or an organ donation or something, it might be useful to know of siblings with a matching blood type.
Besides, it's an interesting thing to know about oneself, I think.
My parents made sure all four of us kids knew, and the reason is that the oldest three (of which I am one) all have the same blood type, and it's fairly rare, so if one of us ever needs a lot of blood or an organ donation or something, it might be useful to know of siblings with a matching blood type.
Besides, it's an interesting thing to know about oneself, I think.
Yes, I do know. I found out definitively when I started giving blood (when I was 17).
I don't know mine. I've never had reason to know it.
^ Kestra, it's something you and your husband may want to know, especially if your going to start a family some day. If you and hubby have different RH factors, shots will be needed to protect you and the little one.
As for me, borring old O+ . Use to donate blood quite frequently in my youger days, not so much now that I'm an old fart.
Q2UnME
As for me, borring old O+ . Use to donate blood quite frequently in my youger days, not so much now that I'm an old fart.
Q2UnME
Sure I know. I'm actually surprised some people might not know. I also know the type of all family members and that of my fiancée. I realize that doctor would probably do a test instead of referring to people's memory, but it's an information that could theoretically save their lives. I cannot take the chance of not knowing.
No, really. Venous blood is dark red, not blue. The blue appearance is a matter of light absorption through the skin. Check this out.
B- Mine is the second rarest. My dad had the rarest.
I found out because I needed a major transfusion when I was 15 years old. Because of the rareness, the hospital wanted 2-for-1 replacement donors or they'd have been happy for my father to pledge the entire amount. I don't know if they even do anything other than just charge for the blood these days.
I got into a major battle with my high school biology teacher over it, too, when we were testing our blood in lab. I knew what mine was and so I wasn't surprised with the result. She told me that it couldn't be and made me do it again. Same result. She called me a liar in front of the class and then did the test herself and ended up having to apologize. Needless to say, I was hardly her favorite pupil.
I used to donate regularly until I was exposed to hepatitus B and ended up with antibodies in my blood that are make it no longer acceptable.
Jan
I found out because I needed a major transfusion when I was 15 years old. Because of the rareness, the hospital wanted 2-for-1 replacement donors or they'd have been happy for my father to pledge the entire amount. I don't know if they even do anything other than just charge for the blood these days.
I got into a major battle with my high school biology teacher over it, too, when we were testing our blood in lab. I knew what mine was and so I wasn't surprised with the result. She told me that it couldn't be and made me do it again. Same result. She called me a liar in front of the class and then did the test herself and ended up having to apologize. Needless to say, I was hardly her favorite pupil.
I used to donate regularly until I was exposed to hepatitus B and ended up with antibodies in my blood that are make it no longer acceptable.
Jan
It's something they have to do, and is always done during a group and cross-match..
ABO and Rhesus mismatches lead to serious and very often life-threatening adverse transfusion-related injury. It's why they have to have trained personnel who can not only ensure that the blood type is correct, but also that the patient details are also correct, as some people also have other reactive antibodies that in rare cases can cause a big reaction when blood is transfused.
Knowing your blood group (ABO and Rhesus state) and knowing if you have certain antibodies helps a lot, as the haematologist can look out for these when blood-grouping.
Generally speaking, type O negative blood is the safest blood group to transfuse blindly, as the blood in the units lack the ABO and Rhesus antigens which the recipient's immune system will react against. It's therefore kept in stores and used in emergency settings.
Well, I guess it can be a useful initial blood test when checking a child's parentage.
I mean, if you and your female partner are type A and type O respectively, and your son is type B....
Yeah, I can imagine situations such as that arising where I may need to find out, but right now that's not an issue. The husband isn't into having children and though that may change, it wouldn't be anytime soon.
Plus I have some genetic blood disorder or something that I'm the carrier of, so we'd have to test him to see if he's a carrier too. The chances that he'd have it too are pretty rare, but it's something we'd want to know.
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