What is Blood?
Blood is essential to life. It transports oxygen and nutrients to organs. It also transports cells, hormones, and proteins that regulate many body functions. It is also responsible for carrying waste products to the liver and kidneys to filter the blood. In addition, blood also maintains body temperature. It has four main components: white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.
Blood groups: how are they determined?
There are broadly four types of blood groups in humans: A, B, AB, and O. These are classified into A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, and O-. Let us look at the factors that determine the blood group of an individual:
- Antigens: They are of two types, A and B, and play a significant role in determining a person’s blood group. Antigens are primarily responsible for triggering the immune system for creating antibodies when a foreign element enters the system. They are usually found on the surface coating of RBCs. If somebody’s Red Blood Cells have A antigens, they are classified in the A blood group. Similarly, if the Red Blood Cells have a coating of B antigens, they have a B blood group. Understandably, if both the antigens are present, they have AB group, and the O group is the one with a complete absence of antigens.
- Rh-Factor: Rh or the Rhesus factor is the presence of a special type of protein in a person’s bloodstream. If this protein is found in the blood, then it is Rh(+), and if it is absent, then it is Rh(-). Therefore, the Rhesus Factor is responsible for a positive or negative group of blood.
These two factors not only determine a blood group but also play a significant role in a blood transfusion. Before a transfusion, the blood of the patient and the donor is tested to see if they match each other. The transfusion takes place only if the antigens and antibodies in both types of blood prove to be compatible with each other. It is because if incompatible blood is transfused, the antibodies in the patient’s body start fighting the new blood, treating it as foreign. It can lead to severe consequences such as blood clumping or shocks. Therefore, it is necessary that before carrying out a transfusion, the blood types are matched to see if the donor is fit to donate and the recipient to receive.
What is a Universal Blood Group Recipient?
As the name suggests, a universal blood group recipient is a person who can receive blood from a person of any blood type. While people with O(-) blood group are the universal donors, people with the AB+ blood type are universal recipients because they don’t have antibodies (A or B) to antigens A or B. It means if any blood type is transfused into their body, they won’t face any negative consequences as they don’t have any antibodies to fight the new blood. While blood transfusion always comes with some side effects, because AB+ is a universal blood group, the chances of any side effects are reduced to a great extent.
Conclusion
Although a human body makes over 2 million RBCs every day, which is enough blood for the body to carry out its functions, however, there are situations where a person may need a blood transfusion. These situations might include diseases like anemia, cancer, sickle cell disease, or unwanted situations where a person loses blood due to an injury or surgery. In such a scenario, both the blood types undergo a test, and the transfusion is completed. But as AB+ people are universal blood group recipients, they can receive blood from any healthy and fit donor.
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