Mr Aflatoonian,
Volume 3, Issue 1 (9-2007)
Abstract
Background & Objectives: Drug abuse and addiction is one of the four major crises in the world. The first step in combating any disease or social problem is proper organization. The aim of this case-control study was comparing the distribution of blood groups between healthy blood donors and clients of drug rehabilitation clinics in the city of Bam.
Methods: In this case-control study, cases were 249 drug users attending the city's rehabilitation clinic. Controls included 360 healthy blood donors at the headquarters of the Blood Transfusion Organization in Bam. We extracted and analyzed data on demographic characteristics, blood group and RH, using the software package SPSS.
Results: This study showed that the AB blood type is more common in drug addicts than in healthy blood donors.
Conclusions: Many studies have reported that an association between ABO blood groups/ RH and various health outcomes such as infections and non-infectious diseases as well as mental and social problems. Our study showed that there is a significant relationship between drug addiction, AB blood type, and negative RH. It therefore seems that genes play a role in the tendency towards addiction. This investigation may be valuable in the sense that it may prompt further research in fields such as genetic, immunology and other related disciplines.
