(Press-News.org) The non-O ABO blood type is the most important risk factor for venous thromboembolism (blood clots in veins), making up 20% of attributable risk for the condition, according to a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
This finding has implications for genetic screening for thrombophilia, a genetic predisposition to abnormal blood clotting.
Danish researchers looked at data on 66 001 people who had been followed for 33 years from 1977 through 2010 to determine whether ABO blood type is associated with an increased risk of venous blood clots in the general population. They found that the risk increased when ABO blood type was combined with factor V Leiden R506Q or prothrombin G20210A, genetic mutations associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolisms. This finding confirms the conclusion of other studies. The researchers also found an 11-fold increased risk of venous thromboembolism for people with the prothrombin G20210A mutation in double dose, something other smaller trials did not pick up.
"We found an additive effect of ABO blood type on risk of venous thromboembolism when combined with factor V Leiden R506Q and prothrombin G20210A; ABO blood type was the most important risk factor for venous thromboembolism in the general population.," writes Dr. Børge G. Nordestgaard, Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital with coauthors. "This suggests that ABO blood type should be included in genetic screening for thrombophilia."
The study was large, followed participants over a long period and follow up was 100% complete for participants. Although the study cohort was genetically homogenous compared with populations with ethnic diversity, the ABO blood type, factor V Leiden R506Q and prothrombin G20210A are found in all ethnicities.
### END
AB blood type strong risk factor for venous blood clots
2013-02-04
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Tuberculosis in Nunavut can be controlled
2013-02-04
A combined strategy is needed to combat tuberculosis in Nunavut where the rate is 66 times higher than in the general Canadian population, states a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Nunavut, Canada's eastern territory in the north, has seen a dramatic increase in the disease since 1997. Previous efforts to eradicate the disease focused on early identification and treatment of people as well as treatment of latent cases. This intense approach helped decrease the number of cases, but was not continued.
"Intensive control activities should be expanded ...
Physicians' roles on the front line of climate change
2013-02-04
Physicians can and should help mitigate the negative health effects of climate change because they will be at the forefront of responding to the effects of global warming, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Doctors could use their political influence to lobby government on climate issues that are already affecting health and to become signatories to the Doha Declaration on Climate, Health and Wellbeing.
They can also act at a professional level, by leading health institutions to cut back on greenhouse gases and reduce clinical waste.
"The ...
JoVE expands scientific video publication into chemistry
2013-02-04
February 4, 2013
Cambridge, MA: On Monday, February 4, 2013, JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) will launch the first scholarly scientific video publication for chemistry. Following its successful introduction of video publications for the biological and physical sciences, JoVE received numerous requests for a chemistry counterpart. In response, the journal is launching a new section, JoVE Chemistry, dedicated to visualized publication of experiments across different areas of chemistry research including organic chemistry, chemical biology, electrochemistry, and ...
Pitt researchers reveal mechanism to halt cancer cell growth, discover potential therapy
2013-02-04
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 4, 2013 – University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have uncovered a technique to halt the growth of cancer cells, a discovery that led them to a potential new anti-cancer therapy.
When deprived of a key protein, some cancer cells are unable to properly divide, a finding described in the cover story of the February issue of the Journal of Cell Science. This research is supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
"This is the first time anyone has explained how altering this protein at a key stage in cell ...
Men are from Mars Earth, women are from Venus Earth
2013-02-04
For decades, popular writers have entertained readers with the premise that men and women are so psychologically dissimilar they could hail from entirely different planets. But a new study shows that it's time for the Mars/Venus theories about the sexes to come back to Earth.
From empathy and sexuality to science inclination and extroversion, statistical analysis of 122 different characteristics involving 13,301 individuals shows that men and women, by and large, do not fall into different groups. In other words, no matter how strange and inscrutable your partner may ...
Low rainfall and extreme temperatures double risk of baby elephant deaths
2013-02-04
Extremes of temperature and rainfall are affecting the survival of elephants working in timber camps in Myanmar and can double the risk of death in calves aged up to five, new research from the University of Sheffield has found.
With climate change models predicting higher temperatures and months without rainfall; this could decrease the populations of already endangered Asian elephants.
The researchers matched monthly climate records with data on birth and deaths, to track how climate variation affects the chances of elephant survival.
It is hoped this research ...
Your history may define your future: Tell your doctor
2013-02-04
Boston, MA—Your family history is important, not just because it shaped you into who you are today, but it also impacts your risk for developing cancer and other chronic diseases. For example, if one of your family members had cancer, your primary care doctor needs to know. Being able to identify individuals at increased risk can help reduce mortality. In a study published this week in the online version of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) found that patients who use a web-based risk appraisal tool are more likely ...
Tropical rainfall patterns varied through time
2013-02-04
PITTSBURGH—Historic lake sediment dug up by University of Pittsburgh researchers reveals that oceanic influences on rainfall in Central America have varied over the last 2,000 years, highlighting the fluctuating influence the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have on precipitation.
The Pitt study, published in the February print edition of the peer-reviewed journal Geology, shows that factors currently producing drier climates in Central America actually resulted in wetter conditions a few hundred years ago, providing a deeper understanding of drought cycles in that region ...
Study finds health departments hindered in addressing health concerns from animal production sites
2013-02-04
State and local health departments face significant barriers and usually do not get involved when confronted with public health concerns resulting from food animal production sites, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The authors of the study, published in PLOS ONE, an open-access publisher of scientific research, examined the role of local and state health departments in responding to and preventing community-driven concerns associated with animal production sites. This ...
Defying the laws of Mendelian inheritance
2013-02-04
In 2005, Susan Lolle and colleagues from Purdue University published a paper in Nature, concluding that Arabidopsis thaliana plants do not obey the laws of Mendelian inheritance (the idea that all genes are inherited from their parents). Instead, Lolle found that these plants were demonstrating genetic traits from older generations, which shouldn't be possible according to our current understanding of how genes are passed on.
At the time of publishing, the paper was recommended by 20 F1000Prime Faculty Members, and it is still one of the all-time top 10 papers on the ...