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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Maximum heart rate and fitness
« on: 19/09/2005 09:07:57 »
David's explanation is exactly why some competitive athletes do what is called blood doping. This involves having a pint or two of your blood drawn and stored. Then, after your body has replaced the lost serum and hemoglobin, the drawn blood is transfused back into the body. This adds extra hemoglobin and allows greater amounts of oxygen to be carried by the blood to the muscles. I'm not sure what the health repercussions of doing this are, but I would guess that it would be an increased risk of thrombosis due to excess platelets and increased blood viscosity.
This is frowned upon in the sports world, but I'm not certain of its legality. Technically, you're not taking any enhancement drugs...
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This is frowned upon in the sports world, but I'm not certain of its legality. Technically, you're not taking any enhancement drugs...
This message brought to you by The Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People