A main controversial issue in todays sports world is ways in which athletes improve their performance. The use of steroids and supplements have been heavily discussed and argued but the method of blood doping is now a major problem. Blood Doping or red blood cell infusion is another example of the ingenious ways in which athletes attempt to improve performance without running into trouble with drug tests. Blood doping has become an integral part of sports and fair play. It enhances your performance by increasing red blood cell mass and thereby delivering more oxygen to the muscles. This manipulation has gained notoriety in the sports world for what it can do for an athlete during endurance events. Blood doping, often called induced erythrocythemia, is the intravenous infusion of blood to produce an increase in the bloods oxygen carrying capacity.. In order for our muscles to perform, they need a ready supply of oxygen. During high intensity exercise, oxygen becomes depleted and the body cannot get enough oxygen to the muscles in order for them to perform at their optimal potential. This lack of ability to get oxygen to the muscles is called oxygen debt and results in lactic acid being formed. Lactic acid is a waste product of anaerobic cellular respiration within the muscle tissue, which can cause muscle soreness that is usually felt after a hard or long workout. Fatigue usually sets in with the onset of lactic acid production. Blood doping is a procedure that begins with between 1 to 4 units of a persons blood being withdrawn, usually several weeks before a key competition. The blood is then centrifuged and the plasma components are immediately reinfused while the remaining red blood cells are placed in cold storage. Over the next several weeks, the athletes bone marrow, stimulated by the loss of the blood, forms more red blood cells and returns the athletes blood volume to normal. The red blood cells are then reinfused back into th...
