There are numerous different components that make up blood. Red blood cells carry oxygen, while white blood cells aid in the fight against infection. Your blood clots with the aid of platelets. Plasma is another substance that gives the body nutrition and hormones.
Your immune system uses antibodies, which are molecules in your plasma, to fight external invaders like bacteria and pathogens. Antigens are also present in your blood. Your red blood cells’ surface is covered in proteins and other chemicals that define the type of blood you have.
By looking at the rhesus factor, blood is further divided (aka, Rh factor). You have a positive blood type if your blood contains the Rh D factor, which is the most prevalent and significant of the Rh factors.
If it’s missing from your blood, you have a negative blood type. It’s critical to classify blood according to type since procedures like blood transfusions—which replenish blood lost during operations, accidents, and bleeding disorders—depend on it.
Because of things like antigens and the Rh factor, mixing blood types that are incompatible can be lethal. A healthy life depends on having healthy blood. What you need to know about your blood and your health, from typing to transfusing. Eight different blood types make up the great bulk of the population.
Blood types are determined by the antigens (or lack thereof) on your blood cells and whether or not the Rh D factor is present in your blood. An ABO blood group system is used to classify blood types. You have an A blood type if your blood contains A antigens. You have a B blood type if you have B antigens. Some people have AB blood, meaning they contain both A and B antigens. Additionally, O blood type individuals lack the A and B antigens.
Based on their Rh factor, each of those types is further subdivided. As an illustration, some people have blood type A positivity while others do not. Rh null blood, commonly known as gold blood, is a highly rare type of blood that possesses no Rh components at all. Only a small number of people globally experience this incredibly rarely.
