If your blood type is O, researchers believe that you have extra protection from Alzheimer’s disease compared to individuals with A, B, or AB blood types.
A study conducted by University of Sheffield indicates that a person’s blood type influences the condition of the brain as a person ages. Their findings revealed that individuals with blood type O have more grey matter in their brain compared to individuals with other blood types. The presence of grey matter in the brain protects an individual from conditions that cause cognitive decline such as Alzheimer’s disease.
In the study carried out in collaboration with IRCCS San Camillo Hospital Foundation in Venice and published in The Brain Research Bulletin, the researchers examined 189 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans from healthy volunteers and calculated the volume of grey matter in their brain. They then compared the volumes among different blood types.
Individuals with blood type O have more grey matter found in the posterior proportion of the cerebellum. On the other hand, individuals with A’, ‘B’ or ‘AB’ blood types have lesser grey matter in the temporal and limbic regions of the brain. These brain portions are easily damaged by Alzheimer’s disease.
Grey matter volumes in the brain tend to normally lessen as we age.
Mateo de Marco, a research fellow at the University of Sheffield said: “The findings seem to indicate that people who have an ‘O’ blood type are more protected against the diseases in which volumetric reduction is seen in temporal and mediotemporal regions of the brain like with Alzheimer’s disease for instance.”
Still, de Marco said further research and additional tests must be done to confirm their findings.
Until now, scientists have not found a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, an age-related neurodegenerative disease.
