1) In class we discussed blood doping issues. Now assume that the normal hematoc
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1) In class we discussed blood doping issues. Now assume that the normal hematocrit of an athlete is 40. The athlete has a normal blood volume of 5 liters Just prior to a major competition four 250 ml units of the athlete's own packed red cells that have been donated and cryopreserved over the past two years are transfused. What do you anticipate will be the major effects on the athlete? Quantify your answer to the extent that you are able. How could blood doping affect an athlete's potential performance level and alter his/her physiological state to cause a health endangerment? Consider the effects of blood doping on cardiac output and the work done by the heart in pumping blood through the circulatory system during high stress exercise. How would you approach developing biotransport models to predict quantitatively both of the above phenomena? You should develop a convincing argument concerning risks to the cardiovascular system arising from blood doping. It would be most effective to develop some model data that can be presented to illustrate quantitatively the consequences of manipulating the hematocrit upwards to varying extents. In addition to potential alterations to the stress level on the cardiovascular system, what are the other physiological effects of blood doping? Why would an athlete use blood doping? What are the tradeoffs to consider in whether to engage in using blood doping techniques?Explanation / Answer
Ans. Blood doping is a method of boosting the no. of red blood cell in an athlete body. It is done to enhance the athlete’s aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and endurance. This might help them in the sport event. But these practices are mostly illegal in almost all professional sports events.
In this case the hematocrit is 40. So, the ratio of the volume of red blood cells to the total volume of blood is 40. And the person is transfused with his own one liter blood. So, there will be a bump in red blood cells. This will increase his oxygen carrying capacity and will increase the sports endurance and may lead to the better performance by reducing physiologic strain during exercise in the heat and even at altitude.
However every coin has two faces. This blood doping practice on the other hand it may cause risks that can be serious and impair athletic performance. That may be augmented by improper medical controls, and make them less sensitive towards the natural requirements and sensitivity lead to dehydration with exercise and environmental stress. Secondly the large infusion of RBCs can cause hyper viscosity syndrome, in which there is increased blood viscosity and decreased cardiac output and blood flow velocity, causing loss in peripheral O2 delivery. The stored blood may contain ruptured RBCs that when infused in blood may release free hemoglobin that can cause the sudden change in blood pressure. Along with this the blood transfusion may also lead to the production of more reactive oxygen species that can catalyze lipid oxidation, promoting atherosclerosis and oxidative damage to cardiovascular tissues and other organs.
MODEL TO DETECT THE BLOOD DOPING: In case of blood transfusion the blood doping can be figure out by blood group antisera to identifying mixed RBC populations in blood samples by flow cytometry. Along with this there are urine test that can detect the same. Urine test was adapted to blood to perform detection of some new erythropoietin stimulating agents.
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