[Mike Irwin]

In another thread I mentioned that my blood type is AB+. That's a fairly rare type, less than 3% of the population has it. Only AB- is rarer.

But, it's beginning to look like a lot more THR members are AB+ than the general population distribution would indicate.

So, I'm working on a theory that AB+ people are naturally drawn to the smell of gunpowder and cleaning solvents. :)

OK, so maybe not, but I'm interested in seeing what the distribution of blood types is.

If you know your blood type, please ring in.

Also, if you don't donate blood?

Think about donating blood. It only takes a few minutes, and it's becoming more and more evident that there are some decent health benefits from donating regularly.

[mpthole]

0- Never donated, but I hear I should since I'm a universal donor.

[Iain]

'fraid I don't know mine, which is surprising after all the medical work I get done, bet it is common as muck though.

Love your sig', think your theory is complete c*** though. :)

[Edward429451]

I'm A+ with an RH factor (whatever that means.)

Whats your theory? That if we all go to DC and donate that everyone'll get the urge to buy guns and go shooting?:D Whoops, just noticed you did put down your theory.

Whats an RH factor?

[Preacherman]

Welllll..... this is more than a little OT for THR, but since it does seem to attract a whole lot of member interest (judging by the previous thread on blood donation), we'll let this one ride for now. No Dracula comments, please! :D

I'm A+.

[Iain]

Rh factor

We all inherit a set of three Rhesus (Rh) genes from each parent called a haplotype. You may have heard of the c, d, e, C, D and E genes. The upper case letters denote Rh positive genes and the lower case, negative and we inherit either a positive or negative of each gene from each parent (eg. CDe/cde, cdE/cDe etc). This means that we then possess two of each gene and can pass either to our offspring.

If a person is tested Rh positive, their blood is said to contain the Rhesus factor - if they are tested negative it does not. A person possessing one or more positive Rh genes (C, D or E), anywhere in their inherited haplotypes, has inherited the Rh factor (eg. cdE/De, cde/cDe etc) and they are tested Rh positive - only a person with a genotype of cde/cde is truly Rh negative.

this and more on http://freespace.virgin.net/angela.powell/rhesusfactor.htm#ADVICE

[Greg L]

O+

[Mike Irwin]

Thanks, Preacher, I knew I was pretty close to the end of the limb here, but I'm sure someone will chime in with something to the effect of people who donate blood are stupid, because that's how the government implants tracking devices... :)


Edward, the Rh factor is the + or - after your blood type, so you are more correctly blood type A with a positive Rh factor.

That Rh actually means Rhesus, as in Rhesus monkey...

Scientists studying blood types years ago discovered that some people have a protien in their blood that Rhesus monkeys also have.

[Edward429451]

RH factor...

Thanks guys.

Does this mean my great great great great grandfather was wed to a monkey?:uhoh: :D

[Selfdfenz]

Cool.

S-

[Mike Irwin]

No, it just means that there's not a lot that separates us from the monkeys...

[gburner]

1. I'm O+.

2. I was a frequent donator until I was exposed to TB and popped a positive test a dozen years ago.

3. Doctors can only find fragments of Rh factor in my blood, so I'm also afflicted with Rhesus Pieces.:p

[Mike Irwin]

"I'm also afflicted with Rhesus Pieces."

Oh that just :cuss:in STANK! :)

[foghornl]

A+, but I can't donate. Some sort of bout with Hepatitus as a kid, and now also diabetic.

[bobs1066]

AB+ here on the Eastern rim of the Kansas Galaxy....

[sch40]

...who can donate should donate. I do it almost as much for myself as for other people. You can't work out very well for a day afterward, but you feel so much better for the next week or two. They say there are some very probable health benefits.

A- (most of my gun-totin' relatives are A-, too)

[Jesse H]

I used to donate all the time, until I discovered tattoos. Now they won't let me.

Can't remember what I am, I think it's AB. Won't vote since I'm not positive, I mean certain.

[Beorn]

B+

I donate as often as I can remember. I've donated 2 or three times a year since I started working at my highschool (semester blood drives).

[Iain]

Jesse H,

will they never let you donate again now you are tattooed?

[Mike Irwin]

I think it's 12 months for tattoos...

[Henry Bowman]

I know an AB-. Should I check her see if she is Hoppes and/or gunpowder positive?

I fear the size of your sampling will be too small to be statistically significant. Better check with John Lott on that. :D

[Iain]

I thought you could donate again after a fixed time.

I don't donate as I need transfusions of immunoglobulins once every three weeks anyway, so pointless to give that away again.

But you, as my providers, you can all keep donating - in fact, donate more you blood cows. :)

[T.Stahl]

0 pos.
CcD.Ee
Kell neg. (whatever that is)

[Navy joe]

Universal donor I am. Fearing the fact that normal blood sampling used to make me light-headed and drop, I never have yet donated. I believe in it though and sign up on ship for "walking blood banks" because often ships don't carry stored blood. I remember one poor fellow that took 22 units to stabilize before he was flown off, without a walking bloodbank he'd be very gone.

Gburner- If you pop positive for Tb you can't ever donate? I did years ago and completed antibiotic therapy, should be good to go.

Here, I'll make this thread fit L&P better. I was very disappointed in how blood donation was manipulated to help soothe the populace in the immediate wake of 9/11. That night I determined that there was no need for me to go donate. Later news reports expressed suprise at the low amount of traffic to NYC hospitals. It seemed easy for me to figure out, you either survive a 110 story bldg. collapse with minor injuries because you were outside or you don't ever get to a hospital. How many survivors did they expect. Much of the blood was later tossed. I feel kinda like "crying wolf" there will hurt future Red Cross efforts to collect blood.

In the future I will go if I hear of any critical shortages in my type. I also encourage everyone to sign up for bone marrow registries, that can also save a life.

[Ed Brunner]

After my SE Asia experiences they won't take my blood and I don't blame them.

[MJRW]

Blood? I don't have any blood. Or was it guns?

[MarkDido]

This trait was apparently passed down to me from my mother, along with shade blindness (not quite as bad as color-blindness) and male pattern baldness.

Both my sons have that thick, Italian hair from my father's side. I was cursed with the thin Slavic hair from mom.......

[Jeff Timm]

Hummmm.

My brother has the same blood type. Never did guns, except the little bit of shooting the USAF did..

He did spend much of his AF career in Airplane Painting aka corrosion control.

Geoff
Who has donated 61 Units to the Red Cross and I forget how many gallons to the US Army 1972 -1982.

[4v50 Gary]

Hoppe's No. 9. A bit of oil surges through every now & then. Actually, it's the best there is in terms of G.P.A.

Never gave a drop b/c they could never assure me that it wouldn't go into saving some felon's life.

[Moparmike]

I have no idea what my blood type is. A is a dominant gene characteristic which is my mothers blood type, and my father had O, which is a recessive gene trait. According to gene theory, I should have A.

[Schuey2002]

B+

Give blood? Me? Surely you jest! :D

[SteelEye]

Seriously,
A close friend was in need of blood so I donated and found I was B+ which I was told is rare. At the hospital they said they do a swap and were especially happy since the reserves of B+ was very low.

Made me feel good that someone could benefit from something so simple.

I love the smell of gunpowder but hate the cleaning fluids -- all of them.

[willyjixx]

donated a few times but dont jump an run to volunteer anymore.
getting all dizzy an lightheaded an wanting to puke isnt fun!


on a side note there is a study out that sais if you have bad allergies do not donate during spring an fall when allergic reactions are inevitable.
donating blood you lose some of you whatevers that help you fight the allergens

[Lictalon]

Judging from the poll, O+ folks are the most gun-weildy out there...

Frankly, I'm not surprised. According to the esteemed Dr. Atkins, O blood types were hunter-gatherers first, and like meat...and killing it with guns. ;) :rolleyes:

[Cal4D4]

Here we go with statistics again! Lyin' dogs that they are. These should be cross referenced with the overall percentages of blood type to population to even begin to mean anything. What if blood type influences your desire for crt emissions? What is the reliability quotient for a sample this size? How do raw stats gain such credibility?(O-)

[PATH]

O+ and proud of it.:D

I love the smell of powder and solvents. Seems lik ethe O+ crowd is in the majoruty here.

[Mike Irwin]

"Here we go with statistics again! Lyin' dogs that they are. These should be cross referenced with the overall percentages of blood type to population to even begin to mean anything. What if blood type influences your desire for crt emissions? What is the reliability quotient for a sample this size? How do raw stats gain such credibility?"

Jesus Christ, Cal4, I never meant for this to be scientific!

If I had meant for it to be so, I would have added in a LOT of other goodies, such as the biggie, ethnic origin.

[tyme]

Of those who know their bloodtypes...

48:39:15:11

42.5% O
34.5% A
13.3% B
9.7% AB

This sample's not the best, but there is overrepresentation of AB. Perhaps there's overrepresentation of asians here vs the usual U.S. distribution?

http://www.bloodbook.com/world-abo.html

[fallingblock]

It was on my Army dogtag....any of you who were in the late 60's Army will recall that whenever there was a blood drive, the First Sergeant could do a very credible vampire impersonation:uhoh:
O+ was a curse :eek:

[AndABeer]

AB+ and I am as caucasian and caucasian can be

I thought O- was the rarest?

[XLMiguel]

A-.
Wife says that explains the attitude:D
I used to donate a lot, still do when the opportunity arises. I don't enjoy it, i really hate needles (I could never get work as a junkie :rolleyes: ), but I figure giving blood is a good sort of non-denominational give back - it's a small amount of discomfort that helps a lot of people.

[stevelyn]

O- ,
Donated once because of some testosterone fueled competition with another platoon involving a three day pass. Haven't done it since and not going to until technology devises a way to take blood without the use of needles and pain to tap you like a maple tree in spring. :D

[atek3]

A+ here.

And for the record, hoppe's smells great.

atek3

[Cal4D4]

"Jesus Christ, Cal4, ..."

Sorry Mike, forgot the smilie at the end!:D

[seeker_two]

I'm O+; and, according to the Red Cross, I'm lacking a certain virus that most adults have. This means that my blood can be used for infants and preemies in the case of transfusion.

I'm a blood-takers dream. No wonder I'm constantly chased by vampires & Red Cross nurses...:evil:

And I donate at every opportunity.

[Sleeping Dog]

O+

And I clean the guns with CLP. The Hoppe's 9 is only used as cologne, on special occasions.

I don't like that needle, so I don't look at it. But I give blood whenever the red cross calls, about 4 times a year.

Regards.

[Mike Irwin]

Seeker,

You are most likely CMV negative, as am I.

Given that I'm AB+ and CMV negative, I've been told that I'm now down to about 0.75% of the general population statistically.


Beer,

No, AB- is the rarest.


Now, all of this is just the tip of the iceberg, really, as there are DOZENS of protein and antigen specific factors that can make some bloods truly rare.

At one time it was seen that the 8 major blood groupings provided enough identification of blood types, but more and more that's no longer the case.


Oh, but the cool thing about being AB+?

In a pinch, we can get red cells from anyone. We're the universal recipients! :)

Whole blood and plasma, though, apparently have to be from another AB donor...


DANG! Here is an absolutely fascinating chart showing percentage breakdown of bloodtypes by ethnic origin!


http://www.bloodbook.com/world-abo.html

Those of us with AB bloods are apparently a lot more likely to have Asian roots.

I've seen some monographs that indicate that AB types were not prevalent in Western Europe until the Mongols started pushing west.

[Sam Adams]

O+

What, exactly, are the health benefits of giving blood?

I used to give, but haven't for years. I probably should start again - it is an easy way to help someone out who REALLY needs the help.

It is interesting that we've got over 20% who are RH-negative, because this group is approx. 15% in the general population. I guess that this is what small samples do to you.

[Mike Irwin]

Well, THIS month, and I say that because eveything health related seems to swing back and forth between good and bad on a regular basis...

There are some studies that indicate that men who give blood regularly have a lessened instance of heart attacks, strokes, and IIRC, leukemia.

[Mal H]

O+

It sure beats the old method of using leeches! :)

Mike knows I give blood regularly, because I cut one of our range sessions short one time so I could high tail it to the blood drive site. I wouldn't cut range sessions short for most any other reason. :D I invited him to join me, but he had just given a couple of weeks earlier.

[robear]

AB+ here...

Use Hoppes...

R

[hksw]

I'm getting this for blood type distribution of the general public.

U.S. Blood-type Distribution

O+ 38 percent of population
A+ 34 percent of population
B+ 9 percent of population
O- 7 percent of population
A- 6 percent of population
AB+ 3 percent of population
B- 2 percent of population
AB- 1 percent of population

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question593.htm

[Destructo6]

O-

Those vampires at the Red Cross are always demanding it.

Moparmike, there's no telling. Your mother could be A-O and donated the O to you, or she could have been A-A, which would mean you're A.

[telomerase]

Something like 45% of Amerinds are AB... so it wasn't rare before 1492.

[grampster]

Mike Irwin,
Your poll actually DID prove your point. More O's than anything. The O ring is where all good shootist strive to be........game, set, match to Mike.

grampster:D

[Edward429451]

I think I remember they did a study of this type around WWII and the conclusion was that 'The white horses eat more than the brown horses, because there are more of the white horses'

horse analogy because I don't remember the types!:o

[Mike Irwin]

Telomer,

"Something like 45% of Amerinds are AB... so it wasn't rare before 1492."

Uh, no, that's apparently not the case.

Native populations in the Americans show a highly developed shift toward the O blood types, with a lesser shift towards A types.

If you look at the chart that I posted, you'll see that AB types are almost unknown among the Amerind populations.

[T.Stahl]

Blood donors:

Isn't it nice to know that you'll faint at least one pint later than others?
I always liked to tease a comrade about it. He portrayed himself as the biggest, blood-thirstiest warrior on earth, but would hit the floor after giving just a ampoule full of blood. :D