I don't yet know my blood group, Whoa!

[Basic]

how often does the marriage license blood test rule out your marriage?

they test for some RH factor right? if you and your mate aren't opposites (or is it the same?) then your kids will be flesh eating zombies or something.

or is that now another washed up fact?

I don't think it rule out your marriage, but it might say that you should be careful when getting pregnant.

If the mother is Rh- and the kid become Rh+ (from the father), then it's possible that the mother will produce antibodies. These antibodies can harm the next kid if it also is Rh+. But it's possible to medicate the mother in the first pregnancy so it's likely that she won't produce any antibodies (not 100% proof though).

So AFAIK, the couple could always get a first child, try to stop the antibodies, and each time it worked they could go ahead for more babies.

But IANAD, so don't base any life decisions on that!

[Edit]
If the distribution between different bloodtypes is equal for male and women, then the probability for a bad match (Rh- woman, Rh+ man) is 0.16*0.84 ~ 13%

 

[rwolf]

Did you guys get paid to donate?

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

you think bloodbanks are part of a treaty with vampires?

 

[AlNom]

Basic:

lol, thanks for reply.

They gave me a little ball to squeeze every 5-10 seconds. They insisted I do that throughout, so I guess that's why I was quick. The nurse had to push a little harder with the needle too because I have thick skin.

It was pretty neat to see the blood flowing. I wonder if I would have fainted if they took another half litre. Adult males have ~6L in total, right?

The donor clinic here has about 5 seats setup. They have the roaming blood bus too, but I haven't gone to any of those. The main clinic is just at the university here, so I can always just walk over.

Question: I seem to produce a lot of histamines... does that carry over with the blood I donate or is that "unrelated"

Did you guys get paid to donate?

I didn't, but there was free food. Pop, soup, cookies over here... I went straight for the pop just to get the sugar going asap. I went home for food.

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

what's canadian blood taste like?

 

[Basic]

rwolf:
There's free sandwiches and juice afterwards. And we choose from a couple of symbolic gifts like sweaters, towels, mugs, various kinds of glasses. But it's not like you do it for those gifts. I think I could get money instead, but it's some silly amount like $5 or so.
So basically it's for the good cause, and because you hope someone else will give blood if you need it yourself.

Btw, I think it's kind of interesting that while you'd think that those organising these donations would like everybody to be helth freaks to keep the blood pure, the gifts doesn't reflect that. The glasses are mostly various kinds of wine glasses, Champain glasses, whiskey glasses, and so on.

I've got a set of wine glasses for red wine with a "drop of blood" on them. nice little vampiric touch. :smile:

 

[AlNom]

what's canadian blood taste like?

Still a bit less greasy than American blood, but I think we're getting there

Vampires beware: instant heart-attacks are guaranteed should you decide to prey on the "average" North American.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Im A+. My wife is either B+ or B- not sure. With regards to the rhesus factor, I think if the mother is positive and the baby is negative, if some of her blood gets into the fetus it can kill the child. I assume it can work in reverse too, though I am not sure. Anyone wish to clear it up?

They dont give anything but some food here for donating blood. Though I used to donate I can not anymore as I smoke pot and also sexual relations with a foreigner bans you for a while, I think visiting certain countries bans you for a while as well.

 

[Crisidelm]

I don't know it, and I can't even donate.

 

[AlNom]

Im A+. My wife is either B+ or B- not sure. With regards to the rhesus factor, I think if the mother is positive and the baby is negative, if some of her blood gets into the fetus it can kill the child. I assume it can work in reverse too, though I am not sure. Anyone wish to clear it up?

I think its the mother who is more at risk... I forget, but yeah, it works in reverse.

err...never mind, they're each probably equally as likely to be harmed considering that the umbilical cord is two-way.

 

[Sandwich]

I think its the mother who is more at risk... I forget, but yeah, it works in reverse.

err...never mind, they're each probably equally as likely to be harmed considering that the umbilical cord is two-way.

No. It works like this:
Baby is Rh+ and the mother is Rh-. Then the mother's body will react to the baby's alien Rh+ antigenes and start to break down the baby's blood.
A first Rh+ baby is usually fine. A second Rh+ can die because the mother's immune system will be fully prepared.

 

[AlNom]

My bad. http://anthro.palomar.edu/blood/Rh_system.htm

Moral of the story: Don't listen to an engineer when the topic is about biology.

 

[Deepak]

Woohooo...I found out today, it is O+. What does that mean for me?

:smile:


From wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_group

Humans have the following blood types along with their respective antigens and antibodies:

• Individuals with type A blood have red blood cells with antigen A on their surface and produce antibodies against antigen B in their blood serum. Therefore an A-negative person can only receive blood from another A-negative person or from an O-negative person.
• Individuals with type B blood have the opposite arrangement: antigen B on their cells and produce antibodies against antigen A in their serum. Therefore, a B-negative person can only receive blood from another B-negative person or from an O-negative person.
• Individuals with type AB blood have red blood cells with both antigens A and B and do not produce antibodies against either antigen in their serum. Therefore, a person with type AB-positive blood can safely receive any ABO type blood and is called a "universal receiver". However an AB-positive person cannot donate blood except to another AB-positive person.
• Individuals with type O blood have red blood cells with neither antigen but produce antibodies against both types of antigens. Therefore, a person with type O-negative blood can safely donate to a person with any ABO blood type and is called a "universal donor". However an O-negative person can only receive blood from another O-negative person.

Overall, the O blood type is the most common blood type in the world, although in some areas, such as Sweden and Norway, the A group dominates. The A antigen is overall more common than the B antigen. Since the AB blood type requires the presence of both A and B antigens, the AB blood type is the rarest of the ABO blood types. There are known racial and geographic distributions of the ABO blood types.

 

[Captain Chickenpants]

Did you guys get paid to donate?

Nope. Tea/Coffee/Juice and biscuits/crisps (chips for you colonials ).

CC

 

[Kombatant]

I'm A+