I am a universal recipient, which means I have blood type AB-negative. My body can utilize anyone's blood. No matter the type, my body will not reject it.
A question that has lurked in the back of my mind for years is this -- when a universal recipient needs an organ transplant, can they take absolutely anyone's organ? Do we not reject organs, in other words, because we are universal recipients? You'd think so, wouldn't you? Blood, organs -- it all sounds the same to me.
I've never searched for the answer to this question -- but I will do so now -- live on the internets! (And yeah, sure, I could just ask my doctor but that's no fun. All answers must come from the digital internets or they don't count. Silly.)
Another, related question also lurks in my mind: if no one else can accept a universal recipient's blood except other universal recipients -- who can take anyone's blood, let us remember -- then does it make any sense for a universal recipient to donate blood?
I will now consult the Intertubes live, right before your eyes! Here we go . . . eenie, meenie, chili . . . no, no, wait . . . I know! I'll try the googley thing. Just a moment . . . okay! I found this comment on a transplant forum thread:
A question that has lurked in the back of my mind for years is this -- when a universal recipient needs an organ transplant, can they take absolutely anyone's organ? Do we not reject organs, in other words, because we are universal recipients? You'd think so, wouldn't you? Blood, organs -- it all sounds the same to me.
I've never searched for the answer to this question -- but I will do so now -- live on the internets! (And yeah, sure, I could just ask my doctor but that's no fun. All answers must come from the digital internets or they don't count. Silly.)
Another, related question also lurks in my mind: if no one else can accept a universal recipient's blood except other universal recipients -- who can take anyone's blood, let us remember -- then does it make any sense for a universal recipient to donate blood?
I will now consult the Intertubes live, right before your eyes! Here we go . . . eenie, meenie, chili . . . no, no, wait . . . I know! I'll try the googley thing. Just a moment . . . okay! I found this comment on a transplant forum thread:
"So, an AB type recipient is very fortunate. He/she can receive a transplant from an "O", or an "A", or a "B" or an "AB", either plus or minus. But an "AB" can only DONATE to another "AB". "AB"s are only 3% of the population in the U.S."There you go. Peons ask and the Intertubes answer. So if this comment is accurate -- and of course it is; I found it on the internet, didn't I? -- the magic also works with organs. In summary, we AB-negatives (and ABs in general, according to that extended thread) are fairly useless in terms of blood or organ donations, but we are excellent recipients of both. Weird.
