R. IGOR GAMOW: Effects of Blood Doping and Gamow's High Altitude Bed®

The High Altitude Bed® is not the only way to increase the hemoglobin concentration in the human body. Both the elite sea level athele and high altitude resident have elevated hemoglobin concentrations as a result of either exercise induced hypoxia or hypoxia induced by low partial pressure of oxygen. Since 1976 two additional procedures have been used to increase hemoglobin concentration. The older of the two procedures which is called blood doping is one in which the athelete's own blood is removed some one or two months before an atheletic event and placed in cold storage. These cells are then infused one to seven days before the atheletic event. If the procedure is done correctly this certainly increases the aerobic capacity of the athelete as is shown in the Table 23-4 below. The time course of the procedure is shown in Fig. 23-1.

Table 23-4
Physiologic, Performance and Hematological Characteristics prior to and 24 hours after the reinfusion of 750ml of packed Red Blood cells. (From Robertson, R.J., et al.: Effect of induced erythrocythemia on hypoxia tolerance during exercise. J. Appl. Physiol., 53:490, 1982.)

Pre-Infusion Post-Infusion Difference Difference, %

Hemoglobin, g ^. 100 ml blood^-1 13.8 17.6 3.8* +27.5*

Hematocrit°, % 43.3 54.8 11.5* +26.5*

Submaximal VO₂ l ^. min^-1 1.60 1.59 -0.01 -0.6

Submaximal HR, b ^. min^-1 127.4 109.2 18.2 -14.3*

Max VO₂, l ^. min^-1 3.28 3.70 0.42* +12.8*

Max HR, b ^. min^-1 181.6 180.0 -1.6 -0.9

Treadmill Run Time, sec 793 918 125* +15.8

* Hematocrit is presented as the percent (%) of 100 ml of whole blood occupied by the red blood cells.
* Difference is statistically significant.

Time course of hematology changes after the removal and reinfusion of 900 ml of freeze-preserved blood. (From Gledhill, N.: Blood doping and related issues: a brief review. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., 14:183, 1982.)

As shown in the figure above the hemoglobin concentration remains maximally elevated for at least two weeks after infusion and remains high for two to three months. Countless experiments have shown that the increase in hemoglobin concentration results in an increse in VO₂ max. Although the procedure of blood doping is illegal it is also quite cumbersome. A more recent procedure which is also illegal is one that is called hormonal blood boosting. In hormonal blood boosting a hormone that is normally produced in the kidneys which causes an increase i the synthesis of red blood cells is directly injected into the athelete some few weeks before the atheletic event. The hormone is called erythropoeitin (EPO) and it is the hormone that is naturally secreted by a person who is experiencing hypoxia. This hypoxia is either exercise induced hypoxia or high altitude induced hypoxia. In any case even though this procedure is quite dangerous and several deaths have been attributed to it, it certainly appears to work. Because the EPO that is administered is synthetic it is detectable using a sophisticated urine test. Because of the above risks and legal aspect of either blood doping or hormonal blood boosting the American College of Sports Medicine states that "any blood doping procedure used in an attempt to improve atheletic performance is unethical, unfair, and exposes the athelete to unwarranted and potentially serious health risks. Blood doping can improve the athelete's ability to perform submaximal and maximal endurance exercise. In addition blood doping can help reduce physiologic strain during exercise in the heat and perhaps altitude.

The High Altitude Bed® avoids these problems by naturally stimulating the same conditions that are experienced by the high altitude resident. Since it has been well established by Richalet et al that EPO is synthesized hours after ascent to altitude there is no reason that the athelete must stay at altitude during his or her training period. We have found that staying in the High Altitude Bed® for six to eight hours a day for two to three weeks can boost the hemoglobin concentration by more than 23% (Russ Walker, Louisiana State champion bicycle racer). Because the High Altitude Bed® is legal, safe and natural we call this procedure of red blood cell enhancement Holistic Blood Doping.

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