does blood type O contradict itself?

Question

it is said that type O is a universal donor (me as the donor), but it can only recieve type O

that doesn't make sense, if i am "donating" type O, than ANYONE should be able to recieve it - don't call type O a universal donor is that donor can only DONATE to a person that only can recieve type O!!! if this is wrong, please give me an example in your answer like a girl with type O who wants to donate to a boy

Answer 1

O negative blood IS a universal donor - in emergency settings it can be given to anyone with a fair degree of safety.

A person who is blood group O can receive O negative blood (the negative refers to the Rhesus blood group and the O refers to the ABO blood group).

However, a person who is blood group O will become very sick if they are given blood group A or B or AB blood.

People who have blood group A, B or AB can receive O negative blood and it is unlikely that they will become sick with a transfusion reaction. This is why blood group O negative is called a "universal donor".

Please bear in mind that the ABO and the Rhesus blood groups are only two out of several blood type systems and that there are other antigens on the red blood cells which may cross react.

Answer 2

Your question confused me.

I have type O positive. What that means is that my blood has only one of three possible factors which will cause clotting in a person who doesn't have them.

The positive stands for Rh positive, the so-called third factor, first identified in rhesus monkeys, therefore called Rh factor. I can receive blood from an O negative donor but cannot donate to anyone whose blood lacks the Rh factor.

The O means my blood lacks the A and B factors. I can donate to an O positive, an A positive, a B positive or an AB positive recipient. I cannot donate to an O negative, an A negative, a B negative or an AB negative recipient.

A person with O negative blood is a true universal donor, since his or her blood has none of the three factors, A, B or Rh.

Hope that clarifies it. If the boy has O negative blood and you have O positive, you can't donate to him.

Answer 3

A boy or girl with type O blood doesn't have the A or B Genotype. O blood can be safely given to A, B, AB, and O type blood recipients without causing any reaction at all. However, if a type O patient gets A,B,or AB blood, the proteins in the donated blood will cause a life threatening reaction in the O type because the body identifies the donated blood as an attack and seeks to "kill" the donated blood.

Answer 4

type O is the universal doner because it has no proteins on it. therefore it can be in types A, B, AB without being attacked by its antigens.

ok that girl who has type O can donate to the boy because he probably has any one of the blood types.

the reason why type O can not take from other doners but O doners is that is has all the antigens.
you would have to ask a doctor to get a good explanation for your question.

Answer 5

no contradiction.

Type A has "A" antigens, Type B has "B" antigens, type O has neither.

So:

Type A can receive either A or O, but would react with B
Type B can receive either B or O, but would react with A
Type AB can receive either A, B, or O, and reacts with none
Type O can receive only O, since it would react with A or B

Rh + antigens are another dimension to this.

+ types can receive + or -
- types can only receive -, since they react with +

So O- is the true universal donor and O+ can donate to everyone with a + Rh type, but not an Rh - type.

A is the most common type, followed by B, followed by O, followed by AB
+ is more common than -

A+ is by far the most common and AB- is the least.

Answer 6

a boy with type O can give blood to ANYONE but can only receive blood from someone else with type O...a girl with type O who wants to donate to a boy with another type (type A+ for example) can, but she cannot donate to him