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New data are arriving indicating that a woman’s store of eggs may be related to her blood type. This study (Albert Einstein and Yale Universities; Lead researcher Dr. Edward Nejat, but as of 2016, the manuscript is no longer available on the internet), presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s 2010 annual meeting (Denver), involved 563 women (under the age of 45) undergoing fertility treatment. Note that most women undergo fertility treatment when they find it difficult to conceive. (In other words, this study may have no utility for the general population.)
Each woman has a fixed number of eggs (ovarian reserve) for use over her lifetime. A newborn girl can have some 400,000 eggs, which numbers decrease to about 10 when a woman reaches menopause (due to their monthly release).
The hormone, FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), is produced by the body to stimulate the release of eggs. FSH levels below 10 are considered normal; those above 10 are considered elevated. Women whose FSH levels are 20 or more are considered infertile.
More FSH is released by women, as their ovarian reserve becomes depleted. The highest release levels were associated with blood type “O”. (Blood type O is found in about ½ the population. Some 45% of the study patients had this blood type, yet it comprised 61.4% of those with elevated FSH.) Not only did women with blood type “O” have fewer eggs, but their eggs were of a lower quality than women with other blood types. Women with blood type “A” (having the A antigen, which is lacking in type “O”) had lower levels of FSH, more eggs (and of a higher quality). Overall, 12.5% of the women in the study had elevated FSH levels.
This may suggest that women who have type O blood need to consider have babies earlier, since their egg reserve may be insufficient as they age.
