As I have mentioned in my latest video, the main reason our blood didn’t spread as type O is the Rh disease. O is recessive like Rh negative blood and O is the most common blood type globally.
https://rhesusnegative.net/themission/bloodtypefrequencies/
Of course, there are quite a few national exceptions. In several European nations, but also Armenia and Japan, blood type A is higher than O.
In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, blood type B is higher than O.
It is possible that in certain parts of the world, one blood type is more beneficial health-wise than another resulting in those with such blood type to be more likely to have more offspring.
In view of the conflicting reports, Mengoli and Colleagues examined the association between ABO blood group and longevity at their hospital by conducting a retrospective review of electronic records of outpatients and blood donors6. They stratified the blood group of 28,129 subjects according to age and gender and found that group A was statistically more represented in the male population (43.40% vs 40.50%), whilst the opposite was true for group B (10.70% vs 13.48%). The Authors observed that the proportion of individuals with group B declined significantly with age regardless of gender. For example, 17.62% of the individuals aged between 20 and 29 years were type B compared to only 9.05% of those aged 80–89 years. Some other associations were confined only to females: the prevalence of group AB declined with age, while the prevalence of group A tended to increase with age. Of note, although not statistically significant, 70% of subjects aged over 99 years had type O blood.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614285/
Clicking on the names of the individuals who conducted the study seems to reveal Australia as the location.
1Department of Haematology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Pathology West, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Australia
From same study:
The above-noted research has logically extended to studies on the potential association of the ABO blood group with longevity, in an attempt to explain differences in life span among individuals with different blood groups. Prior to the report by Mengoli and Colleagues in the past issue of Blood Transfusion6, there have only been a few reports in English on a potential association between certain ABO phenotypes and longevity. Murray was the first to publish his findings in 1961 of increased prevalence of group A in 125 healthy elderly males (65–89 years)7. Eight years later, a study carried out on 50 inhabitants of eastern Turkey allegedly aged >90 years (interestingly, one individual claimed to be 155 years old) found no correlation between the ABO system and longevity; instead the authors reported a significant difference in the prevalence of P and Lewis types in the senescent group compared to 110 controls8. In a survey of German doctors aged >75 years, group O appeared to be associated with longer life expectancy9. Findings of two studies performed on centenarians were contradictory. Blood type B was observed more frequently in 269 Japanese centenarians (29.4%) than in controls (21.9%)10. By contrast, in the only study using molecular ABO typing, Vasto and Colleagues failed to demonstrate significant differences in the distribution of ABO groups between a group of 38 centenarians and healthy controls (age range, 45–65 years) from western Sicily11. Finally, following a review of 772 deaths in their hospital in the United States, Brecher and Hay concluded that B type, rather than being associated with longevity, was a marker of early death12.
From SHEILAGH MURRAY, M.D. Director, Regional Transfusion Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne:
The ABO groups and Rh genotypes are reported on 633 persons over 64 years of age. These are divided into in-patients in geriatric units covering a wide range of illnesses, and a healthy elderly group. Significant differences in ABO distribution, showing as an increased proportion of group A, occurred in the healthy elderly male group. A significant increase in the proportion of homozygotes D/D among the healthy group is reported, most apparent among the males.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1970559/pdf/brmedj03026-0050.pdf
He adds:
So far as the Rh genotype differences are concerned, the heterozygote D/d, as in haemolytic disease of the newborn, again appears to be at a disadvantage, although among the homozygotes D/D in the healthy group it is the proportion of the ” mixed ” R1R2 which was most raised.
While usually studies show heterozygote advantages, there is a significant difference between the health overall of Rh+ children of Rh- mothers and Rh+ children of Rh- fathers.
Now let’s continue with the Rh disease, because the claim is that the first Rh+ child will always be okay.
There are only a few questions you probably haven’t had answered before:
- Why do so many Rh- women have miscarriages before ever having given birth to a child?
- What happens when an Rh- woman has an Rh+ mother and their blood mixed while she was in the womb?
How much less likely an Rh- woman was to have children than an Rh+ one is tough to say when looking back at history, but the chance is that there lies a huge reason for why we are the vast minority.