General Chat

Interesting-we do not always appreciate how relatively recent the advances in detailed blood grouping are.

I met a lady recently who has links with my tree and I commented on the fact that her brother was born in 1930 and then a gap until her birth in 1951
She told me that there had been 5 other children in between who had not survived due to the Blood Grouping/Rhesus factors.

im rh o neg,my husband is ab pos,i had to have anti d after all of my 4children where born,two are ab pos and two b pos, before the anti d injection was discovered i would not have been able to carry my children,as my body would have rejected them ,im very happy that i can give my blood to anyone who needs it,but i must be aware that in the event that i need blood ,i can have nobody elses blood but my own rh neg.x

Sue in S. Snap at AB+ :-)

Sucks when you want to give but can't.

Helen, they say that even having safe sex there's still a greater risk to gay men of contracting HIV. But they deem 'sexually active' if they've 'ever' had sex. They may have gone 20 years since they last had intercourse but it doesn't matter. Of course, the donor service deny that it's homophobic (even though the rules are less stringent for heterosexuals who have had unsafe sex) a more reasonable period would be 12 months because they can usually detect within 6 months (often less now). They deny that it's the cost of changing things that stop them from doing it too. I know several gay men who would love to donate and could too except for that one rule. So, is it morally ok for them to lie assuming that they know there's no risk of them being infected (ie that they've had a long enough clean period before)? It's an awful position that they're put in.

I'm A positive. Only found out when I was first pregnant.
I have never given blood. I find it difficult enough to go for routine blood tests so they would have to knock me out first to get a donation. They wouldn't want it either ... on too many anti-depressants !

Viv

You must be like me, Helen - I'm O+. A couple of Christmasses ago I was eligible to do it again at the start of December, but I was busy with one thing after another at uni, then I got a cold so I was taking everything I could to get rid of it, then two days before I meant to donate I got a migraine and tried to stick it out without painkillers but couldn't. And in the meantime they kept sending me reminders! I felt like phoning up and saying "Leave me alone, I'm ill"!
I find I get really tired for about a day after I donate for some reason, but otherwise I'm OK.

I'm an AB+

I tried to give blood but I have a circulatory problem. The blood transfusion service had difficulty trying to take blood and when I mentioned that I have Raynaud's disease they said I needed my GP's permission.

I tried asking but my GP said he wouldn't let me.

My blood would only have been used for premature babies who can receive any blood group for a short while but I was quite pleased it might have been of some use.

Sue

I agree with SS about the Gay men thing. We're all screened for HIV or at least our blood is. I'm assuming that's the reason. So why the ban?

O+ they like me cos I'm common and versitile. Or so they tell me in their letters. I go a week on Sunday, I hope I'm Ok as I've felt unwell after the last 2, which is why I'm going on a Sunday this time.

Wow... 5 O-'s I wonder if there's a predisposition towards genealogy LOL. Talk about scewing the statistics you guys LOL.

Some interesting info there guys with regards the negs and the A+'s. Interestingly in my research I saw that even if both parents are Rh - they give the anti-D drug just in case because men can often have false negatives due to their not having been exposed so the antibodies haven't developed(a lot like gauging exposure to an infection, which is how the body treats it). Interesting stuff.

Kemp, primarily it's because I'm on thyroxine, suffer from frequent bouts of anaemia and the medications that I'm on for my fibromyalgia. I suspect Dawnie is the same reason (re: meds for FM). I really wish that I could donate and actually tried once before my health got bad but was found to be anaemic at the time.

Interesting you say about the shortage of Rh- blood, in March the blood donor service refused to look at the life-time ban on gay men donating. They stated that they have enough blood to meet the needs currently. It does annoy me so much.

SS .....I think your first post says you cant give blood ....is there a reason!!??

Mine is A+

and they have a shortage of - blood in our area as they are asking on the radio for blood to be given


Just read that Dawie cant give blood either ....why??

I have just looked at my donor card (havent given for a long time as I am too old now).
I am A Rh(D) Positive.
I have alleged French ancestry. Havent taken that line back that far yet. They are alleged to have escaped the massacre of St Bartholomews Eve which was in 15??
Huia (with a little frog in her throat).

im A -
all my three children are something + so had to have anti d after all of them.
With tiddler they said hubby must be the really dominate gene as all have come out as positives.

Unfortunately I cant give blood though

Know mum is A- as well not sure on dad

A +

Found that interesting to see that France has a lot of A+ as I may have ancestors from France!

Tina

O neg

Had to carry a speacial card when I was pregnant and had to have a anti D shot

Something to do with anti bodies and the baby

Same here McAnne, I'm O Rhesus D Negative.

Apparently ours is the one they use when they need to operate on unborn babies according to my doctor.

At least I'm useful for something lol

Dianne xx

O-- neg

snap mcanne,,,,,,,,

Hi all, I'm B+ and my daughter is B rh D negative, not sure what the D is.

I'm O neg - which is very special cos it can be given to any other blood group for tranfusion.

Those nurses are like vampires when they get an O neg in the donor station lolol

Almost certain I'm Rh b neg

LOL that's funny *grins*

It would seem from the stats that Scandinavia, Austria, France & Germany have a slightly higher prevalence of A+ over O+ and Turkey significantly so.

Interestingly Ireland are 47% O+ and only 26 A+

Where as USA are understandably quite similar to our own.

The distribution & demographics of blood groups fascinates me. Can you tell I'm a science geek?