A nosebleed, also known as epistaxis, is an instance of bleeding from the nose. Blood can flow down into the stomach, and cause nausea and vomiting. In more severe cases, blood may come out of both nostrils. Rarely, bleeding may be so significant that low blood pressure occurs.
Allergens like pollen, pet dander, and dust can aggravate the nasal membranes, causing irritation and subsequently bleeding.
Blood group O appears over-represented in Caucasian patients admitted with epistaxis, compared with the control population, raising the possibility that blood group O is a risk factor for epistaxis.
Five of my six children were born in the nineteen sixties in the UK, where patients had no say, or rights to choose inside hospitals, or examination rooms. We were not even told our childrens’ blood types, we weren’t deemed bright enough to know, only doctors and nurses carried that information, certainly not ordinary Brits. So though l knew my blood was very rare, l had no idea why, how, what, it all stood for. And having my late 6th child in 1983, hadn’t changed that mentality in British medics either. Only l had changed, and demanded answers. But with all of them, l never knew, nor was told, not even on a need to know, should emergencies occur, what my kids blood groups were. I recall being nosy when my middle child (in the seventies) needed ear surgeries, and peeking at her chart and seeing Rhesus Neg A. Then years later, when l haemhoraged after my fifth birth, l nosed again, alone in our room, and saw she too, was Rh Neg’ A. But outside of that l never knew three of my total six until very recent times, when they were all in their fifties, from my sixties brood. I’m sure two are
Positives. three are Neg, all A like me, but whether they are also same Geno as me of cde/cde that affords my extreme rarity, l have no idea. l was surprised to know my late sixth child of the eighties, is A Positive as well. I’m assuming the 4th is Positive because we both almost died of Toxaemia (Pre-eclampsia) and a Neg baby wouldn’t fight my blood. Having said all this, l only had one nosebleeder, my second child. Born 1964 had heavy sudden nosebleeds all her childhood, she’s A Positive. I’m not privy to whether she has them today. None of my Negatives had them. One negative inherits mine, and my Rhesus AB Neg mum’s hearing problems, and had (failed) surgery. One inherited stomach problems like my AB mum and me, hiatus hernia. And my third Rhesus Neg was born with a ‘cllicky hip’ and had an asthmatic child, inherited from my O Negative dad, and A Neg cde/cde me. But no,
l don’t believe nosebleeds are particularly associated with Rhesus Negatives.