Blood_Groups_and_Transfusions

Blood Groups and Transfusions Why Blood Types Matter When Europeans first experimented with blood transfusions in the 17th century, so many patients died that the procedure was outlawed in England, France and Italy. It is said that the Incas in South America began transfusing blood much earlier, and that fewer deaths resulted. If so, the reason, not understood at the time, may have been that nearly all of the Incas belonged to the same blood type, while the Europeans, like most groups of people, belonged to different and incompatible types. Today, blood transfusion is safe only because blood samples from the donor and recipient are tested to ensure that no dangerous transfusion reaction can occur from the mixing of incompatible blood. Main Blood Types In the ABO system, human blood is classified into four types: A, B, AB, and O. If your blood is type A, your red blood cells carry a protein called Antigen A and your plasma, a protein called antibody b. If you are type B, your blood contains antigen B and antibody a. Blood type AB carries both antigens but no antibody, while type O blood has neither of the antigens but both of the antibodies. These categories are important in transfusion because certain antigens and antibodies are hostile to each other. Shaped so that they blood, type, types, transfusions, people, cells, while, two, transfusion, patient, each, because, antigens, sample, safe, reaction, number, father, count, child, case, ab, way, under, time, themselves, sure, saved, same, red, recipient, receiving, protein, professional, parent, o’s, operation, one, occur, lives, known, incas, important, hospital, hand, give, first, even, europeans, donors, diluted