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Blood type may influence coronary heart disease risk
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Lu Qi
People with blood types A, B or AB appear to be at greater risk for coronary heart disease when compared with those with blood type O.
Results of an analysis published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology found that people with blood type AB had a 23% increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), those with type B had an 11% increased risk, and people with type A had a 5% increased risk.
Overall, researchers calculated that 6.27% of CHD cases in two prospective cohort studies analyzed were attributable to inheriting a non-O blood group.
The findings were based on an analysis of 62,073 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study and 27,428 adults who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
Participants were aged 30 to 75 years, and patients in both groups were followed for at least 20 years.
In the Nurses’ Health Study, which was composed of 1,567,144 person-years of follow-up, 2,055 participants developed CHD. In the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which was composed of 517,312 person-years of follow-up, 2,015 participants developed CHD.
Researchers also considered the study participants’ diet, age, BMI, sex, race, smoking status, menopause status and medical history.
The percentages of different blood types seen among the men and women enrolled in the two studies reflected levels seen in the general population, according to a press release issued by the American Heart Association.
Understanding blood type has the potential to help health care providers better tailor treatments, Lu Qi, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, said in the release. For example, a patient with blood type B may best lower cardiovascular disease risk by decreasing cholesterol intake, Qi said.
The study population was mostly white. The researchers noted it is not clear whether these findings would translate to other ethnic groups.
“It would be interesting to study whether people with different blood types respond differently to lifestyle intervention, such as diet,” Qi said.
The researchers did not study the biological processes behind blood type and CHD risk.
“Blood type is very complicated, so there could be multiple mechanisms at play,” Qi said.
Blood type AB is rare and is only present in about 7% of the US population. It is estimated that about 43% of US adults have blood type O, according to background information in the press release.
Reference:
- He M. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012;doi:10.1161/atvbaha.112.248757.