Blood type and heart disease
The risk of developing cardiovascular diseases is associated with blood type
Yulia Vorobyova, Vesti
A person's blood type, which, as it turned out earlier, affects memory, also matters if we are talking about cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
A team of specialists from the Netherlands found out that people with any blood type other than I are more susceptible to cardiovascular pathologies, including the occurrence of a heart attack. In other words, only the first blood type protects people from heart problems.
Let us explain that the two main classifications of human blood groups are the AB0 system and the rhesus system. In this case, we are talking about the first system, in which 0 denotes blood group I, A – II, B – III and AB – IV groups. Each of this group corresponds to the individual antigenic characteristics of erythrocytes.
According to the lead author of the work, Tessa Kole from the University of Groningen, when it comes to the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, doctors take into account risk factors that can be dealt with (smoking, diet, sports) and which cannot be dealt with (heredity, age). The latter now includes the blood type.
Studying the statistics of CVD, scientists have noticed that people with any blood groups, except the first, are more susceptible to the occurrence of pathologies. If this is true, this fact will play a huge role in the development of personalized medicine. Therefore, the researchers decided to test their guess.
The team conducted a meta-analysis of studies that studied various CVD (myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and so on) and took into account the blood type of each patient. There were nine such works, and the total number of cases described in them was more than 1.3 million.
First, the experts examined the cases of coronary syndrome and related pathologies. Among all the study participants, more than 770 thousand people had blood group II, III or IV and more than 519 thousand people had blood group I. Of these patients, 11.5 and 7.2 thousand people, respectively, suffered a coronary attack or syndrome.
Then the general cardiovascular complications were analyzed. In the first category, out of 708 thousand people, 17.4 thousand had any complications in the cardiovascular system. In the second category there were 476 thousand people, of whom 10.9 thousand had CVD.
"We have demonstrated that a blood type other than the first one is associated with a 9 percent increased risk of coronary syndrome and a 9 percent increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, especially myocardial infarction," concludes Kohle.
According to her, doctors still have a lot of work to do, because it is not yet clear what exactly makes a blood group a risk factor. One of the assumptions is the connection with the von Willebrand factor. This is a plasma glycoprotein that is associated with thrombosis, and groups other than the first have a high concentration of von Willebrand factor. It is also known that the blood of group III, IV and especially group II has a higher level of cholesterol and a protein called galectin-3, which is also associated with heart failure.
"Additional research is needed to determine the cause of the apparent increased risk of cardiovascular disease in people with a blood group other than the first," Kohle summarizes. In her opinion, in the future, the blood type should be taken into account as a risk factor along with the patient's gender and age, cholesterol level and blood pressure.
However, there are still many factors that can be actively controlled. Proper nutrition, physical activity and compliance with the regime, rejection of bad habits – all this will help to avoid CVD, even if your blood type is not the first, the authors add.
Doctors from the Netherlands presented their findings at the World Congress on Acute Heart Failure (Non-O blood groups associated with higher risk of heart attack).
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10.05.2017