Erythropoietin In Athletics
Erythropoietin (EPO) is a Hormone that stimulates Red Blood Cell (RBC) production and is normally produced in the kidney or liver, but primarily in the kidney. A Hormone is a chemical messenger released by cells into the blood that affects a distant part of the body. Erythropoietin travels through plasma to bone marrow increasing Red Blood Cell production that acts on an enzyme. An enzyme is a protein molecule that acts as a catalyst (something that speeds up reactions) for chemical reactions in living systems. EPO increases Red Blood Cell production, in theory, causing more oxygen to be put into active muscles resulting in increased muscle endurance. EPO can be increased through natural causes in the human body or through a method called 'Blood Doping'. Blood Doping is usually related to athletics. Athletes can do one of two main ways to increase Red Blood Cells in the body. They could remove a fair amount of their blood well before a competition, separate the red blood cells from plasma, and then re-insert the red blood cells prior to the competition. Another way to increase Red Blood Cells is to inject the drug Erythropoietin. Artificial EPO is produced by recombinant DNA technique
Too much or too little of a hormone generally can cause problems. Too much Erythropoietin causes flu-like symptoms and high blood pressure since there is an increase in the amount of Red Blood Cells in a person. Blood viscosity would get thicker and lessen the cardiac output. Since the blood is too thick, the heart has problems pumping the blood through its arteries and aorta. Some problems are heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, and death. Seizures are also among the problems of increased amounts of EPO. Too little of Erythropoietin due to kidney failure can also cause Anemia. Anemia is when there is less than the normal amount of Red Blood Cells in the blood. There are not enough oxygen transporters thus not enough oxygen can be circulated around the body. Some symptoms are tiredness, fatigue, the skin is more pale than normal, and the person becomes short of breath. Treatment for this disorder can be also similar to 'blood doping' for athletes. A patient with anemia can take the Erythropoietin drug to increase the amount of Red Blood Cells. s originally developed with chronic renal failure (kidney failure). The more legal way to increase erythropoietin is to train when there is a lack of oxyg
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Approximate Word count = 822
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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