Can a blood transfusion alter your personality? What research says

medicine

by alex mitchell

Type A personality?

Some people who receive blood transfusions report changes in their mood, behavior, and even memory after undergoing the procedure.

Researchers at the University of Geneva Six out of seven study participants “acknowledged that blood transfusions may cause changes in behavior and values.”

“Three patients acknowledged that the transfusion may have changed their own behaviors and values,” the scientists wrote in a 2018 paper published in the International Journal of Clinical Transfusion Medicine. There is.

“This study shows that patients may feel that blood transfusions change their behavior and values, and that certain personality traits of the donor may be transmitted.”

2013 University of Michigan study They found that “there is a deep-seated belief that internal parts of an individual have a causal relationship, and when they are mixed, the recipient may take on some of the donor’s characteristics.”

“People still believe that transplants can change personality, even though the science doesn’t support that possibility,” said Sarah, a professor of philosophy at Princeton University and one of the study’s co-authors. Jane Leslie said: stated in a statement at that time.

Potential effects of blood transfusions recently revealed in new research A rare spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage associated with surgery.

Research from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and Denmark’s University of Copenhagen has shown that patients who later receive a transfusion of blood from someone who has had a brain hemorrhage are twice as likely to have one themselves.

There are concerns that cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a vascular disease in which proteins accumulate in blood vessels in the brain, may spread through blood transfusions and cause bleeding.

If this phenomenon is confirmed, these experts announced last month. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Associationsays further research is needed – only 0.1% of donors studied showed recurrent bleeding, so it’s still extremely rare.

“Blood transfusions are relatively common, making the potential for adverse effects an important public health issue,” lead study author Gustav Edgren said in a statement.. “But in this case, the chance of a brain hemorrhage caused by something transmitted through a blood transfusion is very low.”

Researchers at the University of Geneva also argued that further study of the theory that blood transfusions can change the personality of the recipient is warranted.

“[Our] “Studies indicate that patients may feel that blood transfusions change their behavior and values, and that certain personality traits of the donor may be transmitted,” the researchers wrote. .

“Further research in larger populations is needed to assess the frequency with which behavioral and value changes are perceived as having changed following a blood transfusion. This will help inform patients who may require transfusions in the future. It will lead to changes in the way we do things.”