Table of contents:
- What blood types are at risk of being infertile?
- Why is that?
- Age is the most important determinant of fertility
There are four blood types that we know so far, namely blood types A, B, O, and AB. You may often associate blood type with personality or risk of certain diseases. In fact, the benefits of knowing blood type are not only that, you know. By knowing your own blood type, you can also find out whether you are prone to experiencing fertility problems or not.
What blood types are at risk of being infertile?
It is imperative that you know what type of blood you have, especially if you want to do a transfusion or donate blood. Not only that, knowing your own blood type can also help detect whether you can get pregnant quickly or not.
Researchers from Yale University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine recruited about 560 women with an average age of 35 for fertility therapy. During the study, experts took blood samples from participants to measure levels of FSH, a female reproductive hormone.
Fertility experts limit that women with an FSH level greater than 10 are considered to have an under-reserve or poor ovarian reserve. Ovarian reserve is a term used to determine the number and quality of eggs in women.
The result, women with blood types O and B had FSH levels twice as high as women with blood types A or AB. This means that women with blood types O and B are twice as likely to experience a decrease in ovarian reserve than other blood groups. The less reserves the ovaries have, the worse the number and quality of eggs produced will be.
Why is that?
From the research results, it is known that women with blood types A and Ab tend to be more fertile than women with blood types O and B. Although the cause is not clearly known, fertility experts suspect that this has something to do with differences in antigens in each blood group.
An antigen is a protein found on the surface of red blood cells. This antigen is a special marker that differentiates one blood group from another.
People with type A blood carry A antigen, while blood group O does not have A antigen. Likewise, type AB blood has A antigen, but blood group B does not. It is possible that the A antigen is what protects the ovarian reserves from damage so that female fertility is more optimal.
That is why women with blood types A and AB tend to be more fertile because they have antigen A, than women with blood types O and B who do not. However, experts still need further research to prove the link between these things.
Age is the most important determinant of fertility
It should be noted that there are many factors that influence female fertility. Starting from the factors of age, lifestyle, disease, weight, and so on. So, if you have blood type O or B, then this doesn't mean you really can't get pregnant or have children.
Even though it is used in research, the measurement of the FSH hormone is actually not the most accurate method for measuring female fertility. This method can indeed help assess the decline in ovarian reserve which is classified as extreme. However, this method cannot determine whether or not your ovarian reserve is normal.
As a solution, fertility experts recommend that you check the levels of anti-mullerian hormone (AMH). AMH is a type of hormone that functions to ripen eggs. Well, AMH levels in the blood can be an indicator of a woman's ovarian function, whether it is working normally or not.
Instead of focusing on blood type, age is the most important factor in determining female fertility. The most ideal pregnancy for a woman is when she is in the range of 20 to 30 years. This means, this age range is the peak of fertility for women.
Once they reach the age of 35 years, women tend to have more difficulty getting pregnant because their ovarian reserves begin to decline. Even if you have blood type A or AB, but you are old enough, you are still at risk for fertility problems and it is more difficult to get pregnant.
x
