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Written by SuperHuman
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
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Athletes take erythropoietin (EPO) to increase maximal oxygen consumption capacity and endurance.
The drug is very popular with cyclists and distance runners. EPO increases the ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles and can increase exercise capacity by 10 percent or more. In medicine, EPO is used to treat anemia (low red blood cell count). Shortly before the 2000 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee’s scientists developed a test to detect EPO. The test has limitations and is relatively easy to beat. EPO can be detected for about two weeks after it is taken but its effects last three weeks. New techniques using chemical variations of EPO and gene doping that triggers natural EPO production make it increasingly difficult to detect blood boosting drugs. Worldwide sales of the drug approached $3 billion last year. More than 180 patients who used EPO have developed a mysterious and potentially deadly blood disease called aplasia. It’s an autoimmune disease where the body destroys its own tissues. This is bad news for endurance athletes. EPO is their performance-enhancing drug of choice, particularly at the elite levels. EPO users also risk stroke and heart attack. (Sports Med, 35:831-840, 2005)
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