O Negative Blood Type

"All men are created equal" is a time tested quotation that inspires many political documents of the United States of America. It is interesting to know whether the nature or the evolutionary forces that shaped man agrees with it or not. When it comes to blood types, nature does not subscribe to the statement, as it has created men with different types of blood flowing through their veins. Does the type of blood decide its bearers personality? Well, the O negative personality is considered to be a self confident, trend setter and leaders of their tribes. They are found to be independent, competent and jealous. They are loyal to their friends and dear ones and passionate.

Types of Blood

There are some chemical substances, referred to as antigens, on the red blood cells which helps in differentiating the blood. Antigens can be made up of carbohydrates, proteins, glycoproteins and glycolipids. These antigens can be identified using a blood test which is most helpful when a pregnant women, or an injured person, needs blood transfusion. Following are the types of blood that one can find in a blood types charts:

• Type A blood: Presence of antigen A in the red blood cell means that you can not accept type B blood. The antibodies in your blood will fight the type B cells and will kill them.
• Type B blood: The meaning of the blood type tests finding antigen B on the surface of your red blood cells is that you cannot accept type A blood. The antibodies in your blood will try to destroy Type A blood cells.
• Type AB blood: Your red blood cells have antigen A or B on their surface. Your blood does not contain antibodies to fight and destroy A or B type blood cells. This fact allows you to accept any type of blood.
• Type O blood: This is a type of blood that does not contain A or B type of antigen on its red blood cells. However, the blood contains both A and B type of antibodies. If you have O blood type then you qualify as a universal blood donor, as your blood type is compatible with all other types. 'O' is the most common blood type in the world.
• In addition to the antigens described above, there are other antigens that can be identified using a blood test.

Rh Factor
Along with the antigens A or B, the blood type tests tries to detect the presence of yet another antigen i.e. Rh antigen also known as Rh factor. A person having Rh + factor tagged to his blood type can receive Rh + and Rh - blood. On the other hand, only Rh - blood is donated to Rh - person.

• Suppose you have type O blood. The presence Rh factor on the surface of the red blood cells, marks you as O Rh positive (O Rh +).
• The absence of Rh antigen, marks you as O Rh negative (O Rh -) which is one of the rare blood types. A person with blood type O negative can be the universal donor for person with A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+ and O- type of blood. However, they can only receive blood of type O negative. In the USA, it is found that 8% of the Caucasians, 4% of African Americans, 4% of Hispanic and 1% of Asians have O negative blood.

O Negative and Pregnancy

During the process of childbirth a woman may loose blood, and may need blood donation or transfusion to replace it. It is when the Rh factor achieves importance. If the mother is found to be of Rh - blood type and the developing fetus to be of Rh + blood type then it may lead to trouble. The antigen on the red blood cells of the fetus, when it mixes it mother blood and triggers the production of the antibodies in the mother blood. These antibodies, depending on the time it happens, may destroy the red blood cells in the blood of fetus, or cause erythroblastosis fetalis. Most often, the fetus that acts as trigger for the antibody production is spared, but, not the next fetus that has Rh positive blood type. When a woman is found to be Rh negative type blood carrier a Rh immunoglobulin shot can prevent antibody production and may ward off the complications.

Is there any special diet for individuals with O negative blood type? Those with the blood type should be careful about what they eat. Even though, their metabolism is designed to utilize the calories efficiently, they find it difficult to use carbohydrates efficiently. This results in increased body fat and hypothyroidism. For this reason they should go by the rule of thumb i.e. eat right for your blood type and should stick to O positive blood type diet that includes vegetables, meat, poultry, high protein, meat, fish and dairy. Their food should be low on beans, legumes and grains.