Blood type influences risk of heart attack

According to a study, blood type influences the risk of developing a heart attack

15/08/2012

So far, an unhealthy lifestyle has primarily been considered a risk factor for a heart attack. Diabetes, high blood pressure and family history as well as influenceable factors, which include high-fat diet, obesity, physical inactivity and nicotine, have an influence on the development of coronary heart disease as well as the blood type, according to US scientists. Thus, people with blood type AB have the greatest risk of suffering a heart attack.

The effect of the blood group on coronary heart disease is still largely unknown. In the trade magazine „Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology ", the researchers report that blood type AB is also more prone to inflammation.

Increased risk of heart attack in blood group AB
A team of US scientists analyzed the data of about 90,000 people for a relationship between heart attacks and the blood type. The investigation showed that carriers of the rare blood group AB have the highest risk of coronary obstruction, while the blood group 0 has a 23 percent lower risk. People with the blood groups A and B are also at five and eleven percent more at risk than the blood group 0.

How these differences come about is still unclear. However, certain blood group-specific differences were noticed, such as the susceptibility to inflammation and cholesterol levels, the scientists report. „While a human being can not change his or her blood type, our results may help us better understand who is at higher risk for a heart attack in the future, "said Lu Qi of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, lead investigator. If your own risk is known because of the blood type, you can prevent the disease accordingly, including an unhealthy diet and lots of exercise.

Context of heart attack and blood type studied on 90,000 people
As the scientists write, they evaluated the health status and lifestyle of almost 90,000 people, including 62,073 women and 27,428 men. Participants were between 30 and 75 years old when the study began and were followed for over 20 years. The data base provided the US „Nurses Health Study“ as well as the „Health Professionals“ study.

In the evaluation, the scientists examined the number of heart attacks within the individual blood groups and analyzed the differences. They also took into account the lifestyle of the study participants such as diet, smoking, age and weight. Thus, the blood group 0 carries the lowest risk of coronary heart disease. According to the German Red Cross, 41 percent of the population in Germany carry this blood type. According to researchers, the blood groups A and B are at greater risk by five and eleven percent, respectively. However, people with the rare blood group AB are at greatest risk. Their risk of obstruction of the coronary arteries is therefore 23 percent higher than that of blood group 0. Only five percent of Germans have blood type AB.

Blood group 0 with the lowest risk of myocardial infarction
So far, scientists can not explain why there are blood group-specific differences in the risk of heart attacks. However, it has been noticed that blood group A has frequently been found to have a slightly elevated level of so-called low-density cholesterol (LDL cholesterol), which promotes arteriosclerosis. In addition, an increased tendency to inflammation was observed in blood group AB. In addition, blood group 0, which has the lowest risk of heart attack, contains more of a substance that facilitates blood flow and prevents clumping. „The biology of the blood groups is very complicated, so several processes could be at stake, "says Qi. Further studies are needed, „to determine the biological cause of the differences“. Should the different risks be confirmed, it might be helpful to know his blood type. „Because then it could be that people with different blood groups also react very differently, for example, to a change in diet“, so the study director.

Heart attack is one of the leading causes of death in industrialized countries
Heart attacks are still among the leading causes of death in industrialized countries. In Germany, about 250,000 people suffer a heart attack every year, of which about one in four dies of direct consequences. Due to circulatory disorders, which are usually caused by blood clots in a constriction of the coronary arteries, it comes to the death of parts of the heart muscle. This is an acute emergency in which the first few minutes are critical. Only the fastest possible onset of cardiopulmonary resuscitation can prevent the death or severe damage of an oxygen deficiency of the brain.

Investigations have shown that in about half of the people who died of an infarct death occurred within the first 15 minutes. The prognosis after a heart attack depends essentially on whether favorable risk factors persist and how much heart muscle tissue is affected. (Ag)

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