Blood Doping

BLOOD DOPING


Each year athlete’s abilities to perform and exceed beyond previous year’s seems to increase. Better training methods, better conditioning techniques, and better overall health of the athlete can contribute to this increased ability. However, “some athletes always seem to take it a step further. They engage in a process called blood doping.” (Beckham, 2002, www). Blood doping, also called induced erythrocythemia, is an intravenous infusion of blood that produces an increase in the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity. The blood doping procedure does increase an athlete’s ability, but can potentially do more harm than good in the end. The ethics and safety issues concerning blood doping are very controversial throughout the scientific and athletic communities.
The procedure to blood dope generally begins several weeks before an athlete’s key competition. During this time 1 to 4 units of the athlete’s blood is withdrawn. “The blood is ...