Out the window with Blood Doping

Policy
My teammates and I researched a multitude of blood doping. I conclude that all blood
doping should be banned from Olympic cycling.
Goal:
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If Olympic cycling was easy, I could do it! However, thats not the case, cyclist trying

long and hard to made it to the Olympic games. Its unfair get a leg up just because you added
some chemicals in to your blood and suddenly youre Super Cyclist Man. Not only is blood
doping an unfair advantage but its also dangerous as well. Were going to look at both the good
and bad side effects of blood doping as well as how it works and why it should be banded.
Introduction
With the Olympics getting more and more competitive and as cyclists are getting faster
and faster, everyone is trying to get a leg up and dasher to the finish line faster the ever. Though
that can be achieved through vigorous training, there is an easier way to get there. Some cyclist
use protein and supplements to naturally develop muscles without changing the function of the
body. Some of the athletes even use steroids but they throw off the bodys natural hormone
system which causes violent mood swings, aggression, depression, and abnormal growth in the
body. So for some cyclist who dont want to deal with steroids, the natural way is not enough,
they turn to blood boosting. It boosts your aerobic activity, meaning it boost the maximum
amount of oxygen that can be used during one period of exercise. It increases your red blood cell
counts which then increases the oxygen flow through out the body. Red blood cell count is the
amount of red blood cells in your blood. It is a test that reads the level of RBC to diagnose

disorder and diseases. The higher red blood cell count the better because it will carry more
oxygen through out the body more effectively. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that
transport oxygen from the lungs to the tissues throughout the bodys tissues and returns with
carbon dioxide. Oxygen enters through the lungs and undergoes a multiple changes to the point
where it can be dissolved into the blood plasma. Specifically, the reason oxygen is such a big
power player in muscle performance is because it rules the cellular repression that goes on in
there, that is its engine to produce energy.
Blood boasting may sound like a dream come true for athletes of stamina due to the
increase oxygen exposure to the muscles which means less fatigue, but there are a multitude of
dangers with its use. The threat come as small as weakening the body for a few day to heart
disease and cerebral embolisms. Due to these heath risks blood boasting needs to be eradicated in
cycling.
Blood Boosting Methods
There are quite a bit of blood boosting methods the athletes use first, they increase their
erythropoietin or EPO levels. When artificially in ejected it is called rEPO EPO is a peptide
hormone produced naturally by the body when experiencing low blood-oxygen levels. EPO is
also released when at high altitudes because of the lack of oxygen. It is released from the kidneys
and affects the bone marrow, stimulating the production of red blood cell production. It increases
the red blood cell count to improve the amount of oxygen traveling to the bodys muscle and
better the buffering of lactic acid. It can be a serious health risk for the athletes when they use to
get a boost in performance because it thickens the blood and can lead to multiple deadly disease.
The athletes suffer from heart disease, stroke, and even cerebral or pulmonary embolism. You

can detect if the athlete has used EPO by testing their urine and blood. Usually the levels of EPO
is between 0 to 19 mU/mL. Abnormalities with EPO exceed the normal ranges. As oxygen
increases the amount of EPO that is released increases with it so the blood cells increase
production.
There are two types of synthetic oxygen carriers, hemoglobin based oxygen carriers
(HBOCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Both of them are are purified proteins or chemicals
having the ability to carry oxygen. This is useful for emergency stand in when human blood is
not available, or when the risk of blood infection is too high while there isnt enough time to
cross match donated blood. Hemoglobin based carriers can also improve the aerobic captivity in
humans and animals. This is useful for emergency stand in when human blood is not available,
or when the risk of blood infection is too high while there isnt enough time to cross match
donated blood. Hemoglobin based carriers can also improve the aerobic captivity in humans and
animals. While beneficial in in the medical world, if athletes abuse it then there will be many
health risks. When using this, there is risk of cardiovascular disease and side effects such as
stroke, myocardial infarction, and embolism.
Perfluorocarbon can be tested for by chromatography because it is not metabolized by the
body and exits through the lungs. Hemoglobin based carriers can be decide by the detection of
free hemoglobin. The testing for this was established in 2004.
There are also two types of blood transfusions as well, autologous and homologous. Autologous transfusions is the procedure of drawing out blood and refrigerated or frozen it to be
injected back into the body when needed. Homologous transfusions is when the blood of another
with the same blood type, is injected into the body. Usually in the medical field they use it for

blood transfusions for patients in surgery. Autologous transfusions take the pressure off of
finding the right donor and this transfusion is very difficult to detect. In Autologous transfusions,
lots of blood has to be drawn out of the body and weakens the athlete and is incapable of
competing. Homologous transfusions can be tested by looking for a presence of forgiven red
blood cells with a foreign origin.
Its Blood Boosting Time
Cyclist usually do their boosting or doping, while they train. When they raise your EPO
levels artificially, they start with a high dosage in order to to get their O2 level high and then
later they take lower dosages to maintain the level of O2. The effects of EPO can last for several
months and is a determinate for the lifespan of red cells injected in to the circulation. Prior to
injecting rEPO in to the body they harvest it from cell cultures from recombinant DNA
technology.
Though blood boosting allows the athletes to excel while they are getting the treatment
its a very short term method to the victory line. Though it doesnt change you physically over
time, minus the trauma of its after effects if you receive too much treatment, it will change your
blood if you partake in blood transfusions. It invites blood cells of a foreign origin into your
system and that can be detected from test. Other than that, EPO wont help the athletes with their
structural improvements. There are no changes in their capillary density, muscle size, or muscle
fiber type of the body.
Its Not Always Sunshine and Rainbows
Though blood boosting may sound like a gift from the gods that is not the case. There is a
price to pay if one decides to indulge. One of the effects of blood boosting is that it raises the

blood pressure. Which means that the ability to pump blood decreases, artery walls thicken and
become narrow, making blood flow far more difficult. That can lead to the blood pressure raising
higher and higher. On top of that, the blood will also thicken thanks to Hyperviscosity. When that
happens the heart will have to work harder an harder to pump it through the body. Eventually if it
works to hard the body will have a heart attack and clogged arteries that will lead to strokes.
Because the kidney regulates EPO, using the injections to increase the production and has
a chance of facing kidney failure.

Who Need Blood Boosting When You Have HBOT?

When you read the word HBOT you probably imagine some scifi robot from Star Wars
beeping and booing around. Thats not the case here unfortunately. HBOT is not something out
of Star Wars but just a altitude chamber.. The altitude chamber is commonly used by athletes as
a training tool. The chamber boost ATP production by increasing the oxygen absorption rate of
the body. On a regular basis we only absorb about 25% of the oxygen we breath but with the help
of HBOT we can increase or absorption rate by 40 to 50%. That is due to HBOT pressurizing the
oxygen in to or lungs, bloodstream, and cells. How the HBOT works is that it forces the body to
work harder to receive as much oxygen as possible by mimicking the lower or higher levels of
oxygen at different altitudes. That leads to an increase production in red blood cells and an
increase of hemoglobin. Later on when the athletes compete they have a leg up because they
have a higher red blood cell count. HBOT essentially does the same thing as blood doping minus
all the negative side effects. It increase oxygen intake and boosts exposure to the muscles which
leads to increased aerobic activity which is what chemical blood doping does but without

harmful side effects. Athletes should be able to utilize HBOT because of all the natural positive
effects on the body.
Conclusion
Due to the harmful side effects of blood doping we need to band it from Olympic cycling.
The risks of athletes experiencing heart problems is too high. We can not have athletes die of
blood clots, heart attacks, kidney failure, and strokes just because they naturally push themselves
to the limit by artificially blood doping. We should be allowing cyclist to utilize the HBOT
versus chemical blood boosting. If the cyclist can naturally achieve their result without causing
harm to their body , they will naturally shy away from the chemical injection.

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