Blood doping and diving

[algal bloom]

I haven't found any information on the DAN website about this so I figured I'd ask here. I was just wondering if blood doping or erythropoietin injections would have any effect on a person's air consumption? I am in no way thinking of doing this! I'm just wondering what it would do to a diver to increase their erythrocytes. Thanks!

Nathan

 

[DocVikingo]

Here is the thread from a previous posting of this question-->

http://www.scubaboard.com/t27535.html

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[Saturation]

I haven't found any information on the DAN website about this so I figured I'd ask here. I was just wondering if blood doping or erythropoietin injections would have any effect on a person's air consumption? I am in no way thinking of doing this! I'm just wondering what it would do to a diver to increase their erythrocytes. Thanks!

Nathan

Most probably not. What causes gas consumption during diving is more a need to exhale c02 than the need for 02 in the gas. That's partly the rationale why rebreathers work as they do, the 02 consumption is just a tiny fraction, so every breath can be 'cleansed' and reused to minimize gas consumption.

At depth the pp02 is greater than air, and in deeper depths or nitrox, it exceeds a pp02 of 1.0 [ air is 0.21] RBC hemoglobin is fully saturated, and any excess 02 is now dissolved in plasma. If the blood were hemoconcentrated with more RBC, the effects of viscosity of extra red cells will inevitably cause complications without added benefits of more 02 carried.

In contrast, sportsmen breathing surface air of 21% 02 who have higher RBC counts can carry more noticable amounts of 02 due to the unsaturated nature of Hb breathing air. Thus, this is a common reaction of RBC to low pp02, such as in high altitude mountaineering.

 

[algal bloom]

Good points!

My line of thinking was that more binding sites for O2 molecules would in turn meaning more binding sites for CO2 molecules (meaning more CO2 released on each breath). Now I realize that this isn't how it quite works. Thanks for the clarification!

Nathan

 

[Lloyd]

The increased viscosity has caused numerous deaths in pro athletes especially bike riders. Increased RBCs do give them a noticable edge, but at a price. It is checked for now. Thought this would be of interest.
Lloyd