Doping of the Blood... eccchh

This video may seem like an awkward attempt by 20 year olds to describe the concept of blood doping in sport... but hey, it started my research. With the Vancouver Olympics looming around the corner, the topic of blood doping seems fitting. Then again, the unit focused on blood cells so... Apparently, blood doping can take 3 forms and the main one I'll be focusing on is the transfusion type as the other 2 are kind of confusing... and honestly, the word "blood" makes me feel really awkward. The main purpose of blood doping is so that more oxygen can be passed on in the body with the "levelling" of blood in the bloodstream. The 3 forms are an EPO which uses the bone marrow, synthetic oxygen carriers which are special chemicals that help carry oxygen and the revived trend of the blood transfusion. *Puke*.

So, skipping the brief summary, the use of blood doping is bbbbbaaaadddd. So what if it helps you win a competition? There is a huuuuuggee chance of getting constant reminders in the form of diseases to kick an athlete's face. The main reason that blood transfusion is the main topic in this blog is because it apparently is the only one that is hard to trace. That cycler guy (YES, I do not know his name... Armstrong?) apparently almost fought death due to his use of blood doping in his cycling competitions. My stance on this issue is plain and simple, blood doping, steroids and CHEATING is wrong. I mean... who would risk getting a heart attack/stroke/embolism just to win a single competition? I do not know what else to discuss on this topic as it's pretty straightforward. It's not like you're cheating to save the world...


Even Michael agrees with me!
Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dkrkSUuLL8
http://www.wada-ama.org/en/Resources1/Q-and-A/Q-A-Blood-Doping/
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-blood-doping.htm