Here's an extract from that article about neanderthals:
Rhesus factor
Rhesus negative blood is found in 15% of the caucasian population, and in over 25% of the Basque population. It's rare in native Indians, Asians and Africans. A rhesus negative mother will have immunological problems if she gets a rhesus positive child. This forms a barrier for hybridization into the Neanderthal population. Over 50% of people with schizophrenia are rhesus negative, and there are indications of similar frequencies in autism and Asperger.
I'm O -ve :shock:
I should go get my blood tested some time, I'm not sure and it's always bugged me XD. My sister is O- I'm pretty sure, because I remember she was asked specificlly by the doctors to donate blood as she had a very rare blood type.
(Lol, I went to look up blood groups on Wikipedia, and today's \"featured article\" is schizophrenia)
Looking at Wikipedia, theres an intresting correlation with that Neanderthal theory - Rhesus negative accounts for 16% of Europeans, but less than 1% of Africans and Asians.
A- and so are my Aspie relatives.
Me, my husband and and our daughter are all O+. I'm so-called "caucasian" (Scottish descent), my husband is Asian (Sri Lankan Islander), our daughter (obviously) is a mixture of both!
Alison
I should go get my blood tested some time, I'm not sure and it's always bugged me XD. My sister is O- I'm pretty sure, because I remember she was asked specificlly by the doctors to donate blood as she had a very rare blood type.
oy, yes you should probobly find that out, and if you carry a wallet, write it down and put it in ther, tahta waygod forbid if you are ever in an acciednt, you will get the right blood for sure.
my blood group is on my identity card. not sure if this is the pracctice everywhere.
stupid qn... but in other words according to this theory would there be less Asian autistics and schizophrenics?
AB, but dont know its negative or not
O negative for me too. Seems to be a lot of 'positive' respondents here though...
AB+ I think. The only time I ever got my blood tested was in high school, as part of a classmate's science project; the test was at least 40 years old, so it might not have been accurate any more. Do those things go bad?
And I am 1/2 Italian, 1/2 Irish/random European.
* = no formal diagnosis.
Mum - A-Rhesus positive - NT* English/Irish
Dad - O-Rhesus negative - Aspie*, Welsh/English/Mediterranean
Me - O-Rhesus negative - Aspie*; 3 siblings blood groups unknown, obviously race mix as both parents.
Hubbie - B-Rhesus positive - Aspie*, Scottish/Canadian (B is very rare. It is most often found in Scots, even rarer in other Europeans)
Son 1 - B-Rhesus positive - Aspie*
Son 2 - O-Rhesus positive borderline, 'cousin'?*
Daughter O-Rhesus positive - borderline, 'cousin'?*
Son 3 - O-Rhesus negative - Aspie
Son 4 - O-Rhesus negative - borderline, 'cousin'?*
Both grandsons probably NT. I have an Autistic (Kanner's) step-grandson with Rhesus negative blood.
I was lucky because in the UK all newly-delivered babies of Rhesus Negative mothers have their blood group tested and, if they are Rhesus positive, mum gets a shot of antibodies ("Anti-D") to mop up any of junior's blood cells in her system before her immune system gets a chance to kick in. However, this is only partially successful as each successive pregnancy still incurs risk (my babies were being born earlier and earlier). Fortunately in my last pregnancy both babies were Rhesus negative, but they were still six weeks early.
Thanks for doing the roundup - we seem to be rather high in Rhesus negatives.
I found this interesting comparison in Wikipedia:
Population Rh(D) Neg Rh(D) Pos
European Basque approx 35% 65%
Caucasian 16% 84%
American Blacks approx 7% 93%
Native Americans approx 1% 99%
African descent less 1% over 99%
Japanese & Chinese less 1% over 99%
From New Scientist Print Edition 19 February 200:
"A more common problem happens in pregnancy with the rhesus aspect of the blood system, when a rhesus negative mother carries a rhesus positive child.
"During the last month of pregnancy, fragments of fetal red blood cells containing the rhesus antigen cross the placental membrane into the mother's bloodstream; the mother responds by producing rhesus antibodies which later pass back to the fetus, destroying its red blood cells. This rarely does enough damage to affect a first child, but it sensitises the mother so that, if she conceives another rhesus positive child, her body will start producing antibodies much earlier in the pregnancy."
Another interesting chart adapted from Wikipedia:
ABO and Rh blood type distribution by nation (averages for each population)
Population____OPos___APos___BPos___ABPos___ONeg___ANeg__BNeg__ABNeg
Australia______40%____31%_____8%______2%_____9%____7%_____2%_____1%
Belgium________38%____34%___8.5%____4.1%_____7%____6%___1.5%___0.8%
Canada_________39%____36%___7.6%____2.5%_____7%____7%___1.4%___0.5%
Denmark________35%____37%_____8%______4%_____6%____7%_____2%_____1%
Finland________27%____38%____15%______7%_____4%____6%_____2%_____1%
France_________36%____37%_____9%______3%_____6%____7%_____1%_____1%
Hong Kong,
China__________40%____26%____27%______7%__<0.3%_<0.3%__<0.3%__<0.3%
Korea, South_27.4%__34.4%__26.8%___11.2%___0.1%__0.1%___0.1%__0.05%
Netherlands__39.5%____35%___6.7%____2.5%___7.5%____7%___1.3%___0.5%
Poland_________31%____32%____15%______7%_____6%____6%_____2%_____1%
Sweden_________32%____37%____10%______5%_____6%____7%_____2%_____1%
UK_____________37%____35%_____8%______3%_____7%____6%_____2%_____1%
USA____________38%____34%_____9%______3%_____7%____6%_____2%_____1%