WK 3 Dis. Response

Explain how the evidence that your peers have presented either shows strong support for their conclusions or weak support for their conclusions. Be sure to present counter-evidence or corroborating evidence when possible.  You must use at least two scholarly sources to support your explanation. 

There are definitely pros and cons to the 4 different procedures discussed in the textbook. Red Blood Cell reinfusion can be an effective technique where blood is withdrawn, frozen and re infused into the patient’s blood stream before an endurance competition, allowing for more oxygen to be transported through the body. This will allow for a more effective endurance athlete.  A con to this though, is it takes a lot of time and planning to make this an effective method. Another procedure is to use erythropoietin, which is a hormone naturally produced by the kidneys. This hormone stimulates RBC production; therefore, you get more RBCs without blood doping. However, if done in excess, this hormone can increase blood viscosity, thus increasing likelihood for stroke, heart attack, etc.  A third procedure is the old- fashioned warm up. Evidence supports that a specific warm up related to whatever activity they are about to do improves the required skill and coordination patterns. However, a con of this is there is not much scientific justification that warm up does do anything beneficial. The final procedure is breathing hyperoxic gas, or in other words, air that is saturated with oxygen. This process is supposed to increase hemoglobin’s oxygen carrying abilities. However, it is likely that there are no benefits to exercise performed by the athlete if not performed immediately. Therefore the benefits are short lived.

 For a marathon runner, I would rank Red Blood Cell reinfusion as the most effective, then erythropoietin, then hyperoxic gas, and finally, warming up.

Given the altitude of Denver, I would still recommend the procedures in the order I’ve listed above. Because of the high altitude, there is less oxygen in the air. Thus, the athlete’s body will need to compensate for this lack of oxygen. However, if the procedures above are used the body will not have to work as hard to compensate.