In a shocking discovery,  a research team at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital, Japan revealed that stroke patients belong to ‘O’ blood group were associated with higher death rates. 

Compared to other blood groups, patients with ‘O’ type blood have lower levels of the blood clotting agent named the Von Willebrand factor. The research team suggested that the lower level of Von Willebrand factor might be linked to higher levels of hemorrhages.

In this regard, the corresponding research investigator Dr. Wataru Takayama said, "Loss of blood is the leading cause of death in patients with severe trauma but studies on the association between different blood types and the risk of trauma death have been scarce. We wanted to test the hypothesis that trauma survival is affected by differences in blood types."

Since the patients who were involved in this research work were Japanese, the research team is unaware of whether the result influenced any particular race.

Dr. Wataru Takayama further added, "Our results also raise questions about how emergency transfusion of O type red blood cells to a severe trauma patient could affect homeostasis, the process which causes bleeding to stop, and if this is different from other blood types. Further research is necessary to investigate the results of our study and develop the best treatment strategy for severe trauma patients."