Blood Groups and Transfusions

A detailed Summary of Blood Groups and Transfusions

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

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

These categories are important in transfusion because certain antigens and antibodies are hostile

In a routine count the blood's basic components, red cells, hemoglobin, while cells, and platelets,

adhere in clumps that can cause fatal blood-vessel blockages.

the patient goes to the hospital at intervals before the operation and allows technicians to take one

within the first fifteen minutes of the transfusions, and the professional doing the procedure

Generally, people with type A blood can safely receive blood from A's and O's, while type B

white cells. Abnormalities may indicate allergic reaction, infection, or blood disease.

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Category: Science

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