# What's your blood type? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187 "2010-11-19T03:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/41 "2010-11-19T19:36:45Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Does the prevalence of blood types vary from population to population? Are there any known populations where AB- might be far more common? Just curious. Thanks. There is definitely a difference in prevalence of the blood group antigens depending on population. For example, the [Duffy blood group system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duffy_antigen_system): [QUOTE=Wiki article] Differences in the racial distribution of the Duffy antigens were discovered in 1954, when it was found that the overwhelming majority of blacks had the erythrocyte phenotype Fy(a-b-): 68% in African Americans and 88-100% in African blacks (including more than 90% of West African blacks).[34] This phenotype is exceedingly rare in whites. [/QUOTE] There’s also a big variation in [ABO types by region](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABO_system#Distribution_and_evolutionary_history). Asians and folks from the middle-eastern area have a higher incidence of type B, for example. Some of the differences are because some blood group antigens are involved in certain diseases, malaria being a great example. The malarial parasite needs the Duffy antigens in order to get into the red cells, so there was evolutionary pressure favoring people who were lacking them. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/42 "2010-11-19T20:02:45Z")
O+. I haven’t been able to give blood for about a year and a half due to travel in malarial zones, though, so the Red Cross doesn’t seem to know of my existence. I can give again in March. (Unless I end up in more malarial zones before then.) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/43 "2010-11-19T22:16:11Z")
I’m B+, I try to adhere to that advice as much as possible 😃 Here’s an interesting chart on most common blood type by [geographical area.](http://anthro.palomar.edu/vary/vary_3.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/44 "2010-11-20T01:09:00Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I’m O- as well. It’s the duct tape of blood. Anyone can use it in a pinch. Once the Red Cross finds out, you are a marked man (or woman). Really? They never bother me. Just as well, they’ve been universally rude when I have donated. I have fantasies that my blood will be found to have some terribly rare, lifesaving compound no one else has, and I can demand BEEELLIIEEEONS!! ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/45 "2010-11-20T01:13:39Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > O- with no anti-CMV antibodies. They like me a lot. Me three. The last time we had a thread like this, there was a higher proportion of O- people than the actual population. Theory went, people who are O- _know_, because you donate once and you’re regularly phoned and reminded ever after. Most people go through their lives not thinking about their blood type. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/46 "2010-11-20T08:45:11Z")
O- ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/47 "2010-11-20T15:42:46Z")
A+ ---
**Author:** ![ptr2void](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ptr2void/32/3406_2.png) [@ptr2void](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ptr2void)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/48 "2010-11-20T15:59:35Z")
Another in the O- camp. I used to donate frequently, but am no longer able to donate due to having developed (I guess? Given that I once donated without any notification of there being an issue) anticardiolipin antibodies, which also forced me onto a life-long warfarin regimen. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/49 "2010-11-20T17:17:59Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > A+ here. I live on a small island pop. 80,000. My O friends are hounded. I walked in on one friend on the phone “Find someone else, I’m hungover and I haven’t eaten yet” She did crawl in later in the day. I popped in here just after the “how many for an orgy” thread and forgot that I’d changed. It gives a whole new meaning to “O friend”. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/50 "2010-11-20T17:49:12Z")
I have no idea ---
**Author:** ![poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poker_in_the_rear)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/51 "2010-11-20T21:30:53Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I’m the only person I know with an ironic blood type: B+. > > I’m actually quite cynical. 😉 Wow, you read my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/52 "2010-11-21T01:37:37Z")
I believe I’m B+, but I haven’t officially been typed. We tested ourselves in a college biology class. Also, my mother knew her type as O+ because she had surgery and a transfusion once. My father’s army dog tags listed him as B, so I took that as confirmation that the biology class test was most likely correct. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/53 "2010-11-21T02:56:18Z")
A+ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/54 "2010-11-21T03:20:58Z")
**AB+** as are all of my siblings, and our Dad. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/55 "2010-11-21T03:28:26Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > **AB+** as are all of my siblings, and our Dad. And your mom. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/56 "2010-11-21T04:34:52Z")
A+. I never knew what my blood type was, until I first donated a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/57 "2010-11-21T07:50:07Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > And your mom. Are you sure? What are the rules on that? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/58 "2010-11-21T08:21:15Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I’m the only person I know with an ironic blood type: B+. > > I’m actually quite cynical. 😉 Hehe, ditto. The only reason I remember whether I’m positive or negative \ is because my mom’s the opposite, and rather rare. I’m the more common one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/59 "2010-11-21T09:24:11Z")
AB neg, husband is O pos, roomie is O neg, they stalk her like a deer at a salt lick. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187/60 "2010-11-21T16:19:16Z")
O-, CMV -, the true universal donor, even for premmies. I donate a pint of blood eveything 2 months and have been for the past 25 years. It’s how I give back to society. You’re welcome. BTW, I have never needed a blood transfusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-blood-type/561187.md?page=4)