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A few years back, one diet fad emerged which prescribed eating foods that are only allowed for your blood type. However, research said that having blood types A, B, AB or O may affect the body more than what people eat.

Despite the claims of the famous blood type diet, research suggests that regardless of what people eat, the blood type may have an impact on the health of the person. In fact, according to Yahoo Health, Type O blood carriers are less likely to die from malaria.

Another study said that those with blood type AB have increased risk of memory loss compared to those with blood type O.


Science Daily reported that Scandinavian scientists suggest that people with blood type O are protected from dying of severe malaria. In the study published in the journal, Nature Medicine, they explained the mechanism behind the protection property of type O blood and selective pressure imposed by the disease may contribute to the variable global distribution of the many blood types worldwide.

The scientists from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered the key to the information about type O carriers being protected from the potentially deadly disease. RIFIN protein is secreted by the plasmodium parasites and it goes to the bloodstream. It acts as a glue and it binds stronger with Type A blood types than those with Type O blood.

Principal investigator Mats Wahlgren, a Professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, said, "Our study ties together previous findings. We can explain the mechanism behind the protection that blood group O provides against severe malaria, which can, in turn, explain why the blood type is so common in the areas where malaria is common. In Nigeria, for instance, more than half of the population belongs to blood group O, which protects against malaria."

Aside from malaria, those with the said blood type are at lower risk for pancreatic cancer, and memory loss, Yahoo Health reports.