Blood Type/rh Factor .. Do You Know ?

[Call me bubba]

This is just a simple poll to see if any members are aware of theirBlood typeRH Factorsdanger of receiving the Wrong RH factor.Should anyone find LINKS for more in depth Info on RH FACTOR please post

[Bruce]

Actually it is a bit more technical than simple RH factor compatibility. The easiest way to explain the RH thing is this....Many thousand of years ago, there was a virus in certain parts, but not all over the planet. The human like people of the time had an immune system, most likely better then ours today. The RH factor as we call it now is the reminants of the immune system's response to that virus, now incorporated into our DNA. With air travel and race mixing, I would expect RH- to be almost gone in a couple hundred of years. (-) means you don't have the antibodies, and (+) means you do. It is that simple for the layperson.Now, Uncle Bruce is going to tell you something that is a secret outside of the medical field... RECEIVING BLOOD IS NOT SAFE NOR IS IT EVER< EVER< EVER A GOOD IDEA. However, receiving blood is certainly better than dead! Even though it is not EVER a good idea, somethimes it is the only thing between you and a very bad case of DEAD. Do not confuse the advertising and PR statement of Blood products are safer today than ever before.... and Blood products are safe today. If you compare the way blood was screened in 1945 to 1975 to 1995 to 2010.... and then jump ahead to the year 2100.... each period in time brings advances. Blood products are MUCH safer today than years before BUT not as safe as they will be in years to come.Now, a word about the Blood groupings (types) From a trivia standpoint, it is not O,A,B.... it was ZERO, A, B. But because we humans interchange our O's and our 0's, it became O,A,B. The ZERO, now O simply means a certain type of anybody (A or B) is NOT there, hence ZERO, which now everyone says O. A means there is a antibiody there called Type A and same for B and then the mixing of A and B.When ever I used to give blood to a patient, we had standing orders to also give benadryl IV to help prevent allergic reactions. I also gave it S L O W L Y because once in, you can't get it out if there is a serious reaction. You can also use 'packed cells' which is not whole blood but rather red blood cells in a consentrated mix. Some say safer, but then also made from more than one doner at times. You roll the dice....