Hrithik Roshan donates blood and encourages others to do it too
Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan garnered a lot of appreciation from his fans when he shared a photo on his social media handle of donating blood. The actor, who belongs to a rare blood group type, donated it as a selfless gesture on the occasion of World Random Act of Kindness Day.
Taking to his Instagram handle, the 48-year-old actor revealed that his blood group is B-negative, which is very rare and hospitals often fall short of it. He also encouraged others to do the same and went on to explain the benefits of donating blood for the donor's health.
Apart from B negative there are two other rare blood groups: AB negative, AB positive. Check here what makes these blood groups unique and do test your blood group if you have not.
What determines blood groups?
Blood groups are genetically determined. Children inherit the blood groups from their parents.
The blood contains antigens, which are located on the surface of the red blood cells.
To determine the blood group, ABO system and the Rh factor is taken into consideration.
ABO system confirms the blood group with the presence or absence of A, B antigens.
Rhesus factor or the Rh factor is found on the surface of red blood cells which is also inherited from the parents. If the blood has the Rh protein, the person is Rh positive and if the blood lacks it, the person is Rh negative.
What are the various blood groups?
Based on the ABO system, the different blood types are:
A-positive
A-negative
B-positive
B-negative
AB-positive
AB-negative
O-positive
O-negative
The blood is A if it contains the A antigen and it is B if it has B antigen. The O blood group does not have any of the A and B antigens while the AB blood group has both A and B antigens.
The positive or negative factor depends on the Rh factor in the blood.
What are the rarest blood groups?
The rarity of the blood groups is determined by their presence in the populations. The blood groups which are seen less in human population are said to be rare blood groups. Among the various rare blood groups are Rh null, AB negative, A negative, B negative and AB positive. In India, the Bombay blood group is also considered to be a rare blood group.
Rh null
These blood group is known as the golden blood group. It doesn't have the Rh antigens on the red blood cells. It is considered to be the rarest of all the rare blood groups in the world. As per reports less than 50 individuals have this rare blood group and it was first seen in Aboriginal Australians.
A negative
Only 6% of the total human population have A negative blood group. " A- plasma and platelet donations are important blood products that can be used for many patients needing these types of transfusions," says a report.
AB negative
Among the rare blood groups, AB negative has the second least occurence in human beings. As per a UK report, only 1% of blood donors have this blood group. What makes this blood group unique is that since it only contains the antigens and no antibodies, AB plasma can be universally used especially needed for emergencies, for babies, and for those with weakened immune systems.
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B negative
This comes the third in this list as only 2% of the total population have this blood group. People with B negative blood group can donate blood to both B and AB blood groups.
AB positive
Ab positive is also said to be a rare blood group with only 2% occurence in human beings. But what saves this blood group from being a rare one, is that it is an universal recipient. In other rare blood groups, the low occurence leads to saving the blood for future use or for donation purpose, while the same is not with AB positive as they can take blood from any blood group of the ABO system.
Bombay Blood Group
This is a rare blood group. Around 179 persons in India with a frequency of 1 in 10,000 have "Bombay Blood group" says a research report. The Bombay blood group is a rare blood group, phenotypes of this group lacking H antigen on the red cell membrane and have anti-H in the serum. It fails to express any A, B or H antigen on their red cells or other tissues, the report adds. It was first discovered in 1952 in Bombay, presently Mumbai; hence the name is Bombay Blood Group.
Why is determining blood groups essential?
It is very essential to determine blood groups during blood transfusion. In case of non-compatibility, the body's own antibodies can attack the antigens of the transfused blood causing reaction and rejection.