A cloud of scandal hangs over this year’s Tour de France as several cyclists have been forced to retire early due to claims of blood doping.
But what is blood doping, and how does it enhance an athlete’s performance?
Advertisement
Blood doping is the practice of illicitly boosting the number of red blood cells (RBCs) in the circulation to enhance athletic performance. Because they carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, more RBCs in the blood can improve an athlete's aerobic capacity and stamina. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping)
The RBC concentration, or hematocrit, of an adult male is between 39 and 52% and with athletes it’s usually lower, at around 40 to 44%, explained Dr Jeroen Swart, sports physician and exercise physiologist from the Sport Science Institute. “Doping pushes an athlete’s hematocrit up to about 49%,” he said. “If it’s more than 50% you are not allowed to race,” Swart said, referring to the Tour de France.
This is actually a delicate medical procedure where up to a litre of blood is drawn, stored for up to eight weeks, and then pumped back into the athlete’s body just before or during the sport event.
“There are different ways of increasing the hematocrit (RBC count),” said Swart. Athletes can have their own blood drawn six to eight weeks before the event, and then reuse it when the time comes. “This method is untraceable,” said Swart.
Athletes can also use someone else’s blood within the same blood group. However, this method is detectable as two types of RBC are found in the athlete’s blood – this is apparently how the Kazakh cyclist, Alexandre Vinokourov was caught out earlier this week, Swart said.
A last method of increasing the hematocrit is by injecting erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone that stimulates RBC production. This method is also detectable with a urine test.
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?