Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Blood Type and Disease Susceptibility

About a month ago my husband sent me a link to “9 Secrets Your Blood Type Reveals About You,” an article that appeared on his internet homepage at work.  After blogging on cholera a few years back, I knew that individuals with type O blood were more susceptible to contracting that illness.  And I was pretty sure I recalled that type O people were less susceptible to malaria as well.  So I was curious as to whether there were any other connections between blood type and disease. 

That particular article didn’t actually hold that many shocking secrets that would particularly pertain to preparedness concerns, but there were a couple. 

  • Type O people are 15% less susceptible to heart disease than A, B, and AB.[i]
  • Type O are less likely to experience blood clots.[ii]
  • Type O had a lesser risk of gastric cancers.[iii]
  • They also are at less risk of deep vein thrombosis.[iv]
  • Type AB people are 82% more likely to develop cognitive issues and dementia later in life.[v]
  • Types A and B have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than type O.[vi]

Curiosity getting the better of me, as it often does, I got to wondering whether there were any other diseases or conditions where blood type might be a factor and went in search of other articles.

Holy cow.  Motherlode.

“Blood Type Biochemistry and Human Disease,” a review article published in 2017 covered numerous diseases whose risk of development was affected in part by blood type.  Interestingly, this risk was also affected by various factors and secretions associated with the blood types, but which are not revealed by simple blood tests and thus we are not likely to be aware of them.  Those factors and secretions will not be covered here.

  • Type O are more susceptible to cholera, mumps, plague, and tuberculosis.[vii]
  • Type A are more susceptible to smallpox and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.[viii]
  • Type B are more susceptible to gonorrhea, Escherichia coli, salmonella, tuberculosis, S. pneumoniae.[ix]
  • Type AB are more susceptible to smallpox, Escherichia coli, and salmonella.[x]
  • Type O are more susceptible to peptic ulcers and gastroduodenal disease.[xi]
  • Type B is less susceptible to norovirus and less likely to become symptomatic.  Type O is much more susceptible to norovirus.[xii]
  • Types A and B are more susceptible to malaria.[xiii]  Type O is less severely affected.[xiv]
  • Type B is less susceptible to bacterial meningitis.[xv]
  • Type AB is more susceptible to severe dengue hemorrhagic fever in secondary infections.

While the authors of the review article noted that understanding how the blood group antigens affect disease risk will foster faster vaccine development, that’s not really our concern.  However, if we can understand who is at greater risk in an epidemic, we can take steps to mitigate and prevent transmission.  If it looks like bacterial meningitis is affecting people, perhaps those with type B blood would be better caregivers.  Type O people might be chosen to care for smallpox patients.  If norovirus is making the rounds, parents with type B blood may be a better choice over parents with type O for taking care of the kids.

However, don’t get caught up in this information.  All these studies only show an association or an increased likelihood of contracting an illness based on blood type.  They are not a death sentence. 

Links to related posts:

Know Your Blood Type 

Cholera in a Collapsed Society 


[viii] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11055074/

[ix] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11055074/

[x] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11055074/

[xiii] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11055075/

[xiv] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21945157/

 

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