Blood Doping

There has been much conversation regarding the use of blood doping drugs and hormones in the media, but what and how does this stuff work. Here is a quick review.

From slate.msn.com,

"Blood doping" refers to any illicit method of boosting an athlete's red blood-cell supply in advance of competition. The typical adult male's hematocrit—the percentage of his blood that is composed of red blood cells—hovers around 45. Since red blood cells carry oxygen through the bloodstream, increasing the number of them allows an athlete's blood to deliver oxygen to muscles more efficiently, reducing fatigue and giving the athlete an edge. Endurance athletes often train at high altitude for precisely this reason. The lower air pressure and diminished atmospheric oxygen at altitude spur the body to generate extra red blood cells, and can bump the hematocrit up two or three (non-illicit) percentage points.

As technology advanced the archaic method of removing and storing large amounts of your own blood gave way to EPO's.

From whyfiles.com:

EPO is a genetically-engineered version of a natural hormone made by the kidney that stimulates bone marrow to make red blood cells. synthetic EPO is sold as a rescue medicine for treating anemia in end-stage kidney disease, when production of EPO declines..Because red blood cells carry oxygen to the muscles, and because bikers (runners and triathletes: added by blogger) need a huge amount of oxygen during their arduous sport, raising the number of red blood cells can -- theoretically -- improve performance.. Since EPO is a naturally occurring hormone, testing for it would detect anyone, not very helpful for identifying doped athletes. Unable to measure EPO itself, the mandarins of international cycling at Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rely on a surrogate test that measures the density of cells in the blood. Blood, as you'll recall, is composed of cells -- mainly red, but also white -- and serum and other liquids that help the cells flow. A study from the 1980s, before synthetic EPO, showed that bike racers' blood averaged a cellular content of 43 percent, so the UCI decreed that anybody with a level above 50 percent would be disqualified for taking EPO.

The use of blood doping or EPO's is for short term success, its affects last for a very short period of time.

The newest product is HGH, or Human growth hormone which increase Testosterone. It is also difficult to test for this drug not because because of technology but cost. The machines and labor to conduct this type of test are, believe it or not, cost prohibitive to organizations using the lowest bidder medical group.

The benefits of using HGH or more easily testable anabolic steroids is high especially in long sesson sports, like football and baseball. Players will not only recieve tremendous gains in strength and speed but more importantly, in some cases, endurance. Elevated levels of Testosterone speed muscle tissue repair and recovery. It is taxing for a baseball player, for example, to maintain a .280 batting average and play 162+ games a year. The body gets beaten up and broken down, the ability to recover faster than the average player is tremendous when better play equals better pay and endorsements.

Say what you will about its uses and abuses but now you know your stuff.