Blood Doping

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Blood Doping

        Blood doping does not involve the use of drugs. Blood is injected into the body to increase the number of red blood cells. Athletes usually inject their own blood, which has been removed earlier and stored, but it can come from another person. The athlete will often train at altitude before he or she removes some of their blood. This is to increase the number of red blood cells that are needed to carry oxygen to the working muscles by the use of haemoglobin. Blood doping makes the blood able to carry oxygen to the working muscles. This increases aerobic endurance, which is an effect that can also be gained by training at altitude.

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Blood doping is an illegal practice used by athletes to obtain an unfair performance advantage over their rivals. The goal of blood doping is to increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, and is achieved by increasing the concentration of haemoglobin in the circulation.

Haemoglobin is the protein contained in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to the working muscles.

Blood doping, often called induced erythrocythemia, is the intravenous infusion of blood to produce an increase in the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity. It is a procedure that begins with between 1 to 4 ...

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