In New Zealand the word “dope” commonly means “Marijuana”. And in the news we often hear of sport stars being caught cheating in events by “doping”.
Therefore one might assume that somehow these athletes have been using Dope to enhance their sports performance.
That is not the case.
In full, the term is “blood doping” and is not as evil as it sounds.
The atheletes are not injecting themselves with drugs at all.
They are injecting themselves with their own blood.
Yes, that’s right.
For months before their big race they:
- Transfuse their blood
- Increase the concentration of Red Blood Cells (mainly by removing water)
- Freeze it
Then the blood, high in Red Blood Cells, is thawed and pumped back into their blood stream before the race.
Why?
Because Red Blood Cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, and more RBCs in the blood can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and endurance.
RBCs can be concentrated, frozen and later thawed with little loss of viability or activity.
Interestingly, a similar affect can be achieved by training at high altitude. The body compensates for the reduced volume of oxygen in each breath, by producing extra RBCs so the lungs become more efficient at extracting oxygen from every lung-full.
But it’s expensive to go and live and train in the mountains for months at a time.