EPO
EPO is an abbreviation for erythropoietin.
EPO is a peptide hormone produced naturally in the body by the kidneys. The role of EPO is to stimulate the
bone marrow to produce and release new red blood cells in the blood stream.
Increasing red blood cell levels in the body
can result in increases in hematocrit, the percentage of blood volume composed of red blood cells. There are
oxygen sensitive cells in the kidney that are able to determine the concentration of oxygen in the blood.
When oxygen levels are low the kidney releases more EPO into the blood stream.
To give you a better picture of
how EPO production works, think about going to high altitude, for example, a mountain at high elevation.
At high altitude, the amount of oxygen available to your body decreases. Your kidney cells detect this
decrease in oxygen and release EPO into the bloodstream to stimulate the production of more red blood
cells. Your red blood cells contain a protein called hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs
to other parts of the body. With the addition of new red blood cells and hemoglobin your body can now
carry more oxygen (i.e. increased oxygen carrying capacity). This process is the basic principle used
in high altitude training in endurance athletes.
What is synthetic EPO
or recombinant human
EPO?
Synthetic EPO
is a drug that is manufactured for the treatment of disease and should not be used by endurance athletes.
The main use of administrating exogenous sources (not produced within the body) of EPO in humans is to treat
patients suffering from anemia, especially those with kidney failure and those undergoing chemotherapy for
cancer. Side effects such as hypertension and blood clotting have been tied to synthetic EPO
use.
Why do some athletes use
EPO?
Synthetic or recombinant EPO has become readily
available and has come to be abused by a few athletes in the endurance sport community. If you increase the
oxygen-carrying ability of the blood (red blood cells) above normal levels, then it follows that the muscles
will receive more oxygen and be able to perform better and generate more power for longer periods of time,
thereby significantly improving performance.
This is why some endurance athletes train at high
altitudes or participate in the forbidden practice of “blood doping” as a means of boosting the number of red
blood cells. Blood doping involves drawing blood from an athlete to induce anemia, waiting a few weeks to allow
erythropoietin to restore the hematocrit to normal levels (~ 45% men, ~ 42% women), and then reinfusing the
athlete’s stored blood thereby boosting the erythrocyte density.
Administration of synthetic EPO is capable of producing
performance enhancing benefits comparable to blood doping and significantly better results than several weeks
or months
of altitude training. An athlete may boost their hematocrit
levels 3-4% within 4 weeks with synthetic EPO use. WADA and other athletic governing bodies have banned blood
doping and synthetic EPO use, as they are essentially methods of
cheating.
How do they test for EPO?
WADA has developed standards for testing
athletes utilizing a urine test is shown to be able to tell when an athlete is using a synthetic
EPO.
Is EPO-Boost a synthetic EPO?
No, EPO-BOOST™ is not synthetic EPO. All EPO
BOOST™ ingredients are in compliance with WADA, UCI, IOC, and NCAA. WADA 2012 list
The ingredients in EPO BOOST™ have been shown
in clinical studies to increase EPO levels resulting in dramatic gains in VO2max and running economy in
athletes.
*EPO-BoostTM does not contain Epogen®, Erythropoietin, EPO or any banned
substances by WADA 2012 list
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