BLOOD DOPING AND THE EFFECT OF ALTITUDE ON RED CELL COUNT

QUESTIONS
11.
a) Erythrogen is undetectable because it is produced naturally in the body, and there used to be no tests that could
differentiate between the commercial and the natural EPO.
b) EPO regulates the production of red blood cells in the human body.
c) Mass production of the drug has had to wait for biotechnology to be up to standard for it to be widely produced
and easily available for the general public.
d) EPO can be used to treat patients on renal dialysis who suffer from anemia.
e) Blood doping consists of athletes removing some of their own blood, freezing it, and then injecting it back into
their bodies before a game or competition. This means that the body receives a boost of concentration of red
blood cells, and so they can carry a lot more oxygen.
f) EPO is a natural hormone that regulates the production of red blood cells in the body so, when it is artificially
introduced in large quantities, the hormone promotes faster and more production of red blood cells.
g) EPO has a possibility of being acutely toxic and its use may increase the chances of having a stroke.
17
a)










b) 1.3/6= 0.22 million/mm
3
of blood
c) i. The average was taken to account for any differences or variations. They were adults because
ii. They had to have been living in altitude for 4 months to be sure that their acclimatization was complete and
their bodies were fully equipped and adapted to living at altitudes so that the results would be reliable.
d) i. At high altitudes, there is less oxygen density, meaning that our body needs to produce more red blood cells to
take advantage of what little oxygen there is.
ii. Months of training at high altitudes would case these athletes to get acclimatized to the conditions, boosting
their ability to produce red blood cells.
4
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5
5.2
5.4
5.6
5.8
6
6.2
6.4
0 1500 3000 4500 6000 7500
Number of Red Blood Cells