Blood Type, Part 1

What's Your Type?
Do you know what your blood type is?

Most people do not, until a medical situation arises and a doctor needs to know. Recently people have been learning more about blood type, not only for medical reasons, but also for dietary and lifestyle changes. There have even been links between personality traits and blood type.

What are the blood types?
The blood types are O, A, B, and AB. The negative or positive sign after a blood type (i.e. O+) is the Rh factor. The "Rh" designation refers to the presence or lack of a certain blood protein - if you have it, you are positive, if not, you are negative.

Type O is the most common blood type in the United States and is able to donate blood to many other type and Rh combinations. Because of the several type/Rh combinations, who can donate to whom and what kind of blood you can receive can become quite complicated. Some combinations are compatible while others are not.

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