Does Blood Type Influence Oxygen Transport Capacity?

My opinion, but I'm not a medical researcher, is No. There is some "expert" out there writing a ton of books, making a ton of money, claiming that everything you eat, your personality, etc. depends on your blood type. But I've never seen statistics on it. Other than that, I doubt (although I wonder if it's been checked) that elite runners are predominantly of one blood type.

Might as well wonder if the best runners all are the same zodiac sign.

I'm sorry to vent, but I just finished going through this with a friend who thought the above author was right on the money. Until they discovered that the author's description of her blood type and her personality and lifestyle were completely wrong.

To my knowledge, ATP has nothing to do with hemoglobin.

this is a great question. I personally don't have a clue. great topic, I hope someone will be able to shed a little light on this subject if there is any light to shed.

Idealist, thanks for the response.

I recognize that the lack of recognizable statistical research in this area speaks loudly in that there is may be no correlation, as you wryly point out that correlating zodiac sign to performance may be more suggestive.

Re ATP, I mentioned that in my original post in the context of wondering if ATP properties varied according to blood type.

However, if someone has done the research re blood types, it may be revealing to see and of practical use (not that we should try to change our blood type, but in training to compensate for weaknesses from blood type).

Lets conduct our own little experement shall we. Just write a post stating you focal distance, best time and what blood type you are. see if there is any correlation

mile - 4:05

blood type: AB

3 mile - 13:45 (road)

Blood type A positive

Blood type has nothing to do with athletic performance. No, I can't quote you a study, but if you understand what blood typing means then it would be obvious. Since a lot of people don't (that's ok, I know crap about a lot of things too), I'll explain.

Blood type is determined by what version of a gene you carry for a set of proteins expressed on the outside of your cells. These proteins are used by the immune system to determine what is "self" and what is foreign. So if you put the wrong blood type of organ in somebody, the body will recognize it as foreign and attack it.

It's actually much more complicated than that...Besides the blood type proteins, there are numerous other such "markers" that must be matched for organ transplant. This is why matches are so rare and even a bone marrow transplant donor is hard to come by.

These proteins serve no purpose in oxygen transport, or anything else associated with athletic performance. They simply function in immune recognition of cells. Therefore they do not affect athletic performance.

I'm no doctor, but I am a Ph.D. candidate in cellular and molecular biology and have taken many med school classes, so I feel I'm more than qualified to answer this...

not to say that I don't thoroughly believe you AH......

It has been found that people with blood types B and O were more likely to survive the smallpox virus, or not get it at all. Other diseases this has been somewhat similar in that different blood types are more susceptible to different diseases. I think this would be a very intersting study to get into.... although with all the stereotypes there are in the world nowadays who needs one based on your blood type?

I wonder about different blood types being more immune to various viruses. I think virtually all Native Americans have type O blood and they didn't exactly shrug off smallpox like a cold.

Surely blood type must have a small influence on oxygen transport. Wouldn't a particular protein make-up be more permeable and allow oxygen to bind to the hemoglobin easier? What exactly is there "more of" (apart from higher rbc) or what is "better" when someone has a higher vo2? Of course the heart pumps more efficiently but books only seem to explain what goes on rather than how much or what "extras" may also play a part. Is it enzymes that allow the oxygen to be released to the muscle more readily? How about "juicing" with enzymes? How about something that increases mitochondria count? Are the capillaries and alveoli of a talented person much thinner and more permeable? Not much you can do about that. There are so many degrees of difference in outer appearance due to protein differences in individuals(thicker skin or finer/thicker hair). Why not inside as well?

My two cents.

ATP is an organic chemical. It is not a protein, and thus does not differ between different people. So in reply to whether ATP and its functioning may differ, no they do not.

My other cent is in reply to AH. I generally agree with you that an affect of blood type on performance is unlikely. I'm also piled higher and deeper (Ph.D.) but am not quite so dismissive. Lots of small changes in biological systems can lead to small effects in surprising places. But no I wouldn't expect to see any important effect of blood type on performance.

Since even your average person is about 98.5% saturated with O2, there is not much room there for improvement.In addition to more RBCs in a trained person (and people with some disorders and a few just plain lucky people as shown in a recently published study), trained people have more plasma volume that increased VO2max.Heart increases cardiac ouptut mainly through increased stroke volume and this is a training effect.In trained people: mitochondria are more numerous and more dense. The body buffers lactate better. Capillary density increases. Increased fatty acid oxidation enzymes.