Non-O blood groups prone to heart diseases and stroke, study reveals

A recent Post Graduate cardiovascular study has linked people with non-O blood groups to higher risk of heart diseases and stroke.

The study which was released on April 30 in Paris, France, sought to determine the individual vulnerabilities to the cardiovascular problems based on the blood groups.

Tessa Kole, a Master’s degree student from the University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands, presented the study at Heart Failure 2017 and the 4th World Congress on Acute Heart Failure two days ago.

Research suggests that people with blood groups O have less protein elements that are prone to forming blood clots, as opposed to blood groups A, B and AB which behave on the contrary.

“We demonstrate that having a non-O blood group is associated with a 9% increased risk of coronary events and a 9% increased risk of cardiovascular events, especially myocardial infarction,” said Kole.

In a report that is published by the European Society of Cardiology, Kole explained how the risk factor is elevated in the non-O blood groups. It gave a natural and biological conditions that most victims may not be able to control.

“The higher risk for cardiovascular events in non-O blood group carriers may be due to having blood clotting protein which has been associated with thrombotic events. Non-O blood group carriers, specifically those with an A blood group, are known to have higher cholesterol,” Stated Kole in her report.

Study report further adds that the non-O blood groups have chemical component known as the galectin-3 that is often associated with inflammation that worsens conditions of heart failure patients.

According to Kole, the study involved sampling of random people drawn from various races and ages in Europe. In over 700, 000 non-O blood group people who were sampled, 11,000 people had heart-related problems. On the other hand, in 500,000 blood group O people who were sampled, only 7,000 people suffered the same fate, study reveals. This implies that given this sample, there are 2,000 more people with non-O blood group at risk of developing heart diseases.

Kenya’s cases

Heart diseases and stroke are some of the contributors to Kenya’s deaths per year. A research by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention states that stroke is the sixth killer disease in the country, with a chunk of 4% of deaths. It adds that Ischemic heart disease contributes 3% of total deaths and is ranked at the tenth position.

As for the World Health Organisation, Kenya loses approximately 90, 000 people to cardiovascular-related deaths. Even though habits such as drinking, smoking and depression have been cited as the common causes of the problem, the findings of the study suggests that individual blood group is becoming an important factor.