Another member was asking about triggers for autoimmune disorders and it reminded me of something I had heard a few years back about those with Rhesus Neg blood types being more prone to autoimmune diseases and purely out of curiosity, would like to know how many of you are rhesus neg like me (O neg) or rhesus positive?
I never really gave much credit to it to be honest but just found this research paper from 2015 which found that "Rhesus negative subjects reported to have more frequent allergic, digestive, heart, hematological, immunity, mental health, and neurological problems" and that they have "increased the risk of developing of certain heart diseases, respiratory diseases and some immunity and autoimmunity related diseases, for example rheumatoid arthritis. The general pattern suggests that RhD negative subjects could have problems with autoimmunity, could be more resistant to infections of viral origin and could be less resistant to infections of bacterial origin"
Which is actually quite interesting. I'll skip the mental health issues on the basis that I'm sure all of us have been wrongly diagnosed with depression and prescribed ADs whether we are or not lol!!
I suppose this means you have a recessive rhesus Neg gene but not sure it would mean much although back when heard the rumour first, some were saying it could be because of the incompatibility of the two???
I am 0 negative I also have MS and now tested positive for tpa. I have mild gastritis and also found out during my last prganacy I had anit K if that helps.
Interesting.... I'm Rh negative (O neg). Recently diagnosed with overactive thyroid / Graves' disease. My Grandad had similar and vitiligo and I think he was Rh negative (had a rare blood group from what I remember - he kept being asked to give blood because it was rare!)
Just googled "Graves disease Rh negative" and found a thread about Lupus and Rh negative - lots of people on there saying they have Rh negative blood group and Lupus, some also have other autoimmune diseases in addition (e.g. Coeliac, Crohn's).
Yes, I've seen that before on nearly all autoimmune forums when first looked into it. I would love for a proper study to be done to see how many actually are and whether it's truly an issue. But then again, would we want to know if our blood type sets us up for these problems when we're younger - would insurance companies use it in the future (if the NHS stops), could it be used against us by prospective employers or might people even start choosing partners based on what we are and start getting tested before having children like in sickle cell anaemia lol!!!!!! I'm not paranoid, just like to think of all angles lol!!
I'm going to leave out family members reported as assuming the rhesus negs have as many family members who are also rhesus neg with issues and the fact I could plonk in the twenty members of my family on both sides who are all rhesus neg mostly with issues which would skew results lol!
Well so far by my count out of 16, I have 10.5 rhesus neg (66%) and 5.5 rhesus positive (34.3%) which is actually quite significant considering we are only meant to make up 15% of the UK population.
Although I suppose we have to take into account that possibly rhesus negs might be more likely to be interested and respond to post and that rhesus negs might be more likely to be aware of their blood type whereas more rhesus positives seem more likely to not know - at least in my experience anyway.
The viral/bacterial thing certainly seems to correlate to my illnesses since childhood. I've had whooping cough and strep etc which are all bacterial and always missed out on the viral ones like measles and chicken pox and seem completely immune to the viruses I'm exposed to.
On the plus side I suppose, some of the research referred too did indicate rhesus negs as scoring higher in intelligence testing over their bog standard rhesus positive counterparts lol
Hi, this is really interesting. I'm RhD negative. I've had some sort of auto immune rheumatoid and connective tissue distinction for years and recently diagnosed with Graves' disease.
I'm O neg (as was both my parents), I'm also a blood donar. There's a very good article on blood groups in the current The Donar magazine. It can be found on the NHS donar & transfusion web site. Just go to campaigns- the Donar magazine - blood group basics.
Always want to donate but unfortunately, I'm always too anaemic and barely keep my iron levels within range even on Meds so am unable to. Many of my family members do though and hopefully, I can finally stop having iron deficiency as my ferritin has gone up suddenly so maybe soon I can
noticed this forum is a bit dated but here goes. Ive also noticed the autoimmune factors with having rh neg blood i am o neg both parents are o pos but have the negative ressive gene my whole life ive had issues fighting off bacterial infections almost died from ecoli when i was 7 also have had a over active thyroid my whole life was diagnosed pre graves but still have a functioning thyroid due to making sure to get and not get to much iodine in my diet. also have had psoriasis and shown symptoms of celiac disease or gluten sensitivity but also have had resistance to viral infections which is a plus.
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