Sometimes it’s Better to React with No Reaction
MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH UPDATE
I read my horoscope today. I’m a card-carrying Libra and just learned that my “desire for more freedom these days is real.” I haven’t a clue what to do with this nugget of information; nonetheless, reading a miniature magazine made for a pleasant pause as I waited in the grocery check-out line.
It reminded me that sometimes information is just that: information. It doesn’t change what you do, it just makes you go, “Huh.” And then pay for your milk.
Today I will cover an interesting piece of COVID-19 news that, similarly, makes me pause and move on: the BLOOD TYPE question.
You may have seen over the last few weeks that researchers in Italy and Spain have found that people with type A blood seem to have a higher chance of developing severe respiratory failure from COVID-19 than people with type O blood. The findings support an idea that has been developing since early in the global pandemic: that type O blood is somehow protective against the disease, while type A may make people more vulnerable.
Having type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need oxygen or go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
As of right now, we don’t know why that is. But what’s interesting is that the stretch of our DNA (or “locus”) where the blood-type gene is situated also contains an area of DNA that acts as the on-off switch for another gene which produces a protein that seems to trigger strong immune responses in patients with COVID-19. (As you may know, in some people the coronavirus triggers an overreaction of the immune system, aka a “cytokine storm.”)
Do genetic factors influence most disease processes? Yes. Do genetics play a role specifically in the COVID-19 immune response AND relate to blood type? Perhaps. At least it seems that way so far.
Geneticists around the world are collecting DNA samples from people with COVID-19 and are working hard to answer these questions. Indeed, figuring out the genetic reasons why some people get very sick from COVID-19 and others do not could lead to new targets for drug designers down the road—and also could help identify patients who will need more aggressive treatment.
So what does this mean for YOU? If you are anything like me, you like ACTION and you’d like this blood type info to set a plan in motion that would protect you from illness. We want predictability and body armor.
But in reality, there’s not a whole lot to do. Say, for example, you got your blood type checked with your doctor. If you are blood type A, does that mean you should lock yourself in your room and cower in fear? No.
If you are blood type O, does that mean you now can frolic through a crowded indoor restaurant, unmasked and eating off other patron’s plates? No!
Knowing your blood type in the pandemic, while certainly interesting, doesn’t actually change the way you behave—at least it shouldn’t. Genetics are only one piece of the larger puzzle of why only some people get severely ill from coronavirus.
On a personal note, I have no idea what my own blood type is! I had it checked before my appendectomy, for example (it is standard procedure before a surgery in case of unexpected blood loss and the need for a transfusion). But I couldn’t tell you what it is now because I forgot.
And I don’t plan to check it now, even though I could. It just wouldn’t change how I behave in any meaningful way. That’s not to say that in the future, should we have a drug directed at the genetic locus of type A blood-carrying patients that mitigates respiratory risk in COVID-19, that I wouldn’t run to get my blood drawn.
Meanwhile, I do know I’m a type A PERSON and that’s a risk factor for other problems—like wanting to know the unknowable and control the uncontrollable—which are the very impulses many people feel right now.
Indeed human beings have a natural desire to sort, categorize, and hang onto bits of knowable information to feel more in control, particularly during this swirling mess that is our universe during a pandemic.
My suggestion? Seek information that WOULD change your behavior, like your blood pressure, the COVID case rates in your state or district, and how badly you want that cocktail in your backyard with friends. Then act accordingly! (Which may include the cocktail—or two.)
P.S. Coming up! Join me and my friend and NYC pediatrician Kelly Fradin, MD, to discuss COVID-19 and kids, parenting, and a long, hot summer. We will convene on Facebook LIVE on Wednesday June 17 at 2 pm ET!