London: Blood group `O` protects people
against heart attacks, say researchers.
A new study, published in `The Lancet` journal,
has revealed that the same gene which creates the enzyme that
causes people to be blood group `O` gives them some protection
against heart attacks.
The study was carried out by an international team led
by researchers from Cardiovascular Institute at Pennsylvania
University in the US.
For their study, the researchers compared almost 6,000
people who had suffered a heart attack with 7,400 people who
had a type of coronary heart disease, but had not had a heart
attack, `The Daily Telegraph` reported.
They described the association as "notable, in view of
decades of work suggesting a relation between ABO blood-groups
and both thrombosis and coronary heart disease".
However, the study did not look to quantify how much
extra protection being blood group `O` might give someone from
having a heart attack.
PTI
