Athletic performance has always fascinated me by how fast
athletes can run, bike, or swim. When I was younger, I would often wonder how
athletes can achieve such an unrealistic goal. One answer is blood doping.
Blood doping is a method to improve physical/mental health, increase muscle
mass, enhancing recovery, block pain, and boost endurance performance (Singer
2016). As blood is transfused to the athlete, it increases red blood cells,
which ultimately leads to more oxygen being delivered to their muscles
(Robinson et al. 2006). This method will permit the muscles to do more work for
a more extended period of time compared to a non-doping individual.
Although blood doping is a prohibited method of the World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), there is no direct detection method for this
procedure. Several non-direct methods have been proposed, such as gene
expression changes, microRNAs, and proteomics changes (Pottgiesser 2009). Even
though blood doping may improve athletic performance, athletes do suffer from
short-term and long-term side effects. For example, if the blood count gets too
high, the blood gets too thick. As the blood gets thick, it becomes hard for
the heart to push the blood around the body, which can contribute a blood clot
or stroke (Bryner 2017).
As competition rates for Tour de France, IRONMAN, Olympics,
etc. increase every year, athletes seem to switch to undetectable methods
(blood doping) to secure a win. Famous athletes such as Lance Armstrong, Tyson
Gay, and many others have been accused of some form of doping. Why do athletes rely on such drugs? Probably because of money, fame, or social status. Humans strive to be the best in everything they do, no matter the cost (in this case their health).
Several ethical
issues are raised by such developments regarding the definition of fair
competition. There has been much discussion about how blood doping is unfair,
harms the athletes, harms even non-doping athletes, and how bans must be enforced
(Schneider et al. 2006).
In the sports
community, it’s sad to think that after every outstanding performance, every
breakthrough, every record, there is always the question of whether or not
blood doping had any contribution to it.
Reference:
Bryner , J. (2017).
What is Blood Doping? Retrieved from
https://www.livescience.com/32388-what-is-blood-doping.html.
Pottgiesser T, Schumacher
YO, Funke H, Rennert K, Baumstark MW, Neunuebel K, et al. Gene expression in
the detection of autologous blood transfusion in sports – a pilot study. Vox Sang. 2009;96:333–336
Robinson, N., Giraud,
S., Saudan, C., Baume, N., Avois, L., Mangin, P., & Saugy, M. (2006).
Erythropoietin and blood doping. British journal of sports medicine, 40 Suppl
1(Suppl 1), i30–i34. doi:10.1136/bjsm.2006.027532
Schneider, A. J., &
Friedmann, T. (2006). The problem of doping in sports. Advances in genetics, 51, 1-9.
Singer, T. (2016, May
25). The Science of Doping in Sports. Retrieved from
https://www.nature.com/scitable/spotlight/doping-in-sports-7005401/.
Interesting review on blood doping as a way to help athletes win competitions! It's particularly interesting that there is no direct detection method for blood doping - how many people have crafted a way to get away with this? Was their moment of fame worth it?
ReplyDeleteThis post led me to wonder: what other methods are athletes using to cheat the system? Another method I found that you may also find interesting was the use of diuretics. In short, diuretics increase urination, particularly the amount of water and sodium eliminated, which changes the volume and make up of bodily fluids (Cadwallader, de la Torre, Tieri, & Botrè, 2010). Why would an athlete want to pee more, you may ask? Well, turns out these diuretics have two benefits: it induces rapid weight loss (great for people who need to meet a certain weight on a scale before competing) and it prevents other banned substances from being detected (Cadwallader, de la Torre, Tieri, & Botrè, 2010). The diuretic can prevent detection simply because of its dilution effects, or more complexly due to how it changes urinary pH, preventing certain acidic or basic drugs from passively entering the urine (Cadwallader, de la Torre, Tieri, & Botrè, 2010)!
With the advances in understanding of human physiology and exercise performance, I wonder what new and crazy performance enhancing techniques we'll see in the future? How do we stay on top of it? How do we decide which performance enhancers are ethical and which are unfair? To be continued..
References:
Cadwallader, A. B., de la Torre, X., Tieri, A., & Botrè, F. (2010). The abuse of diuretics as performance-enhancing drugs and masking agents in sport doping: pharmacology, toxicology and analysis. British journal of pharmacology, 161(1), 1–16. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.00789.x
Hi Alessandra,
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post on something similar to this. Although, I agree with you that its sad that these methods are used to create unfair advantages, I do think it's interesting to look at what benefit research on these methods may provide us with. These methods are used by athletes and the general population out of context of their original intent. For example, the use of EPO in America lead to significant improvements in treatment of anemia and end stage renal disease by decreasing the need for blood transfusions (Tanhehco, Berns, 2012). I think it's crazy how media (sometimes) takes scientific findings and presents them to the public out of context and forget to consider the researchers original intent.
In regard to Kiana's response... I posted about the use of gene doping as an ergogenic aid and I believe this will be more frequently used in the future of sports performance. This will present us with many challenges in screening and bring about many ethical considerations. However, gene doping could provide treatment and benefits to many disease states. So again, how do we stay on top of things and ensure that research and the knowledge we gain from is is used with good intent?
References:
Tanhehco, Y. C., & Berns, J. S. (2012). Red blood cell transfusion risks in patients with end-stage renal disease. Seminars in dialysis, 25(5), 539–544. doi:10.1111/j.1525-139X.2012.01089.x
I also have been intrigued by how people are able to push the limits of their sport. When athletes accomplish this with persistence, dedication, and honesty there is nothing more admirable. It is incredibly unfortunate that people feel the need to compromise their integrity for status and turn to blood doping. It also shows a lack of respect for their sport.
ReplyDeleteRelated to blood doping but not in the same category is the hypoxic training. Some mountain athletes train with masks that diminish the amount of oxygen they can take in. I have also heard of people buying oxygen depriving "tents" to put around their beds so that they can "train" while they sleep (Hypoxico). It kind of teeters on fairness. But more importantly, it allows people who do not put in the adequate athletic and safety training to try and summit or climb mountains. To me, this is can be dangerous. Experience makes an athlete in a high risk sport good at what they do. Doping and an over reliance on hypoxic training are just ways of trying to to get to the finish faster without putting confidence into hard work and experience. Thanks for your post!
Also, just for laughs...John Oliver talks about (not doping) but the implications of people trying to be part of a high risk sport without putting in the training. Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bchx0mS7XOY
References
Hypoxico - Altitude Training Systems - Established In 1995. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hypoxico.com/.