Blood group A is equal to high risk? What's up with the Corona-blood groups-a study on

A, B, AB or 0? In the life of a people, there is usually only a few moments, in which their blood group is on the topic. This can be a serious accident, the supply of donor blood to. Or the moment in which people decide to donate blood. Rarely, the blood group of a child entails the question of the actual paternity to himself. Since the blood group of the child from the mother and father can quickly be discrepancies uncovered.

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Since last week should be added for a lot of people another reason to deal with the own blood group. Researchers working with the molecular biologists, Andre Franke, University of Kiel, had published a preliminary study in which they investigate the question of whether some blood groups make people more resistant to the Coronavirus than others. The scientists come to the conclusion: people with blood group A have failure at a higher risk for a severe course with Breath. People with blood group 0 the least.

Numerous media reported on the study. The health scientists and SPD Bundestag member Karl Lauterbach, summed up the results of the study in a Twitter Post and wrote of a “very amazing” results:

In the results, there is yet a Preprint of study – therefore, the preliminary results of the study, which only examined yet by independent scientists. This process is called “Peer Review”. He serves as the quality assurance and is key in determining whether study results are recognized among scientists. Renowned trade magazine studies always consider such a “Review”. Compared to the star, said the laboratory – and transfusion medicine physicians Cornelius Knabber, however, of a “very well-made and elaborate study”.

How did the researchers?

The Team analysed genetic data from a total of 1610 Covid-19-patient from Corona epicenters in Italy and Spain. All of the patients were seriously ill and had to be supplied with oxygen. The opposite set of data from 2205 healthy patients who were not suffering from Covid-19. Overall, the researchers evaluated the data of more than 8.5 million of the so-called SNPs. These are variations of a single base pair in the double-stranded DNA. Which variant in the DNA of a human being, is largely determined by inheritance.

Two Places in the genome of the seriously ill fell the researchers especially in the eye – in these Points, abnormalities were found more frequently than in the control subjects. Particularly interesting: On one of the most conspicuous Places the Gene for the blood group affiliation of sitting. On the Basis of the data, the researchers were able to determine that people with blood group A have a 50 percent higher risk of developing a disease, difficult to Covid-19.

Even if an independent review of the study is still pending, it confirms already existing research results. So, Chinese scientists had published in March a study, after they had examined more than 2000 blood samples from Covid-19-patients from clinics. The result: Among the confirmed Corona cases were especially a lot of people with blood group A. people with blood groups AB and B were less often represented, – the least likely were those with blood group 0.

That the blood groups have an impact on health risks, for health professionals by no means new: it is known that people with blood group 0 are statistically prone to clots and less blood. For this purpose, a coagulation factor, its content is reduced in the blood of those people easily makes.

The cause for the increased risk is unclear

The star asked the statistics expert Katharina Schüller, the current study is to examine. Critically, she sees the selection of the control group. “On the one hand, be used in Italy, blood donors for the control, which showed no signs of Covid-19, but on the other hand, also controls from a study by 2010 will be used,” she said. “I think it would be much more meaningful to choose as control group persons found to have been infected (i.e. the antibody), but no severe gradients had.” Schüller Stat is the founder of the Munich-based company-Up and head of the working group “Statistical Literacy” of the German Statistical society. In addition, they reviewed scientific publications for the “same UN statistics, of the month”.

There is some potential limitations of the study, which would also be addressed by the authors. “So it is unclear whether the blood-type differences increase the risk for a severe Covid-19-disease, or whether the connection is indirect because they are associated with certain risk factors,” says Schüller. In addition, the authors of the study had diseases the Presence of certain risk factors, such as the heavy escort is not controlled.

A proof that the blood group alone controls the risk of disease is not the study therefore. Nevertheless, it shows that there are genes that are associated with a severe Covid-19-history. You could, therefore, serve as another piece of the puzzle, the doctors helps to identify the causes for severe gradients.

The image of the Covid-19-disease has been transformed by the research results of the last strong – to-disease way of a lung disease of a System. As the risk factors of the life so far, age and certain underlying diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. Also smokers and men seem to have an increased risk. In addition, the evidence that infection with the Coronavirus affects the blood clotting and excessive response of the immune system are on the increase.