"Blood spinning", is it doping/ cheating?
In the press today, the rumour is that Jermain Defore is to undergo a technique called 'blood spinning' to aid his recovery from injury.
Basically, the technique involves extracting blood from the patient and spinning it to concentrate growth hormone.
The Growth Hormone is then injected back into the patient in the problem area, and it is reported that the technique will help recovery from injury at a rate 5x faster than normal.
Now spurs are not the first team to do this - indeed it is rumoured that Robben (and other players) have used it.
After the Lance Armstrong debacle, almost every fan of sport were up in arms. And yet, this technique is, on the surface at least, very similar to what Armstrong was reportedly doing to aid recovery after every race.
This is a grey area in sport. The technique is clearly going to improve the sporting performance of Defoe, in that he cannot play now and after the injection of GH he will be able to play 5x earlier. One could argue that many medical techniques help football players recover faster from injury - like physio.
In the past players who could not even stand on ankles or knees were given cortisone steroid injections intraarticularly, which reduced swelling by artificially suppressing the players immune system. A couple of hours later they could play the match!
So what IS cheating and what is acceptable?
Basically, the technique involves extracting blood from the patient and spinning it to concentrate growth hormone.
The Growth Hormone is then injected back into the patient in the problem area, and it is reported that the technique will help recovery from injury at a rate 5x faster than normal.
Now spurs are not the first team to do this - indeed it is rumoured that Robben (and other players) have used it.
After the Lance Armstrong debacle, almost every fan of sport were up in arms. And yet, this technique is, on the surface at least, very similar to what Armstrong was reportedly doing to aid recovery after every race.
This is a grey area in sport. The technique is clearly going to improve the sporting performance of Defoe, in that he cannot play now and after the injection of GH he will be able to play 5x earlier. One could argue that many medical techniques help football players recover faster from injury - like physio.
In the past players who could not even stand on ankles or knees were given cortisone steroid injections intraarticularly, which reduced swelling by artificially suppressing the players immune system. A couple of hours later they could play the match!
So what IS cheating and what is acceptable?
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Comments
There is a fine line between doping meds/methods and medically approved methods to aid recovery. Blood Spinning is not illegal, but it does raise question marks as to how far you can go towards illegal, that gives over the top benefits to a sportsperson. Aiding a faster recovery will always be priority because of the finances involved in having injured players, but if that gives them an unfair advantage, you can foresee players getting 'injured' enough to warrant having blood spinning.
A lot of athletes did (and perhaps still do) have blood transfusions of their own blood, taken at a previous time, to artificially boost their rbc count. This greatly increases stamina and endurance.
This is "perfectly natural" isnt it?
I see this as similar to blood spinning - taking something from your body present in low concentrations, centrifuging it to a far higher concentration, and injecting it back.
That all said, by the rules it isn't... if they were cyclists it would be classed as cheating but they aren't...
The only crossovers I see are when the footballers play at the olympics, if they are tested to IOC standards I imagine some of them would fail.
Ever heard of blood doping?
haha, I know... this made me laugh... I think 90% of the population think blood doping is taking dope...
There is a huge ignorance of what actually is cheating and what is not in UK sport, the situation with Defoe is only an example.
So far (in this thread) we have people who do not see anything wrong with doping, and others who see it as cheating. Amazing really.
Nothing natural about it at all, so I guess if thats your stance then its cheating. But then again, lots of advancements in the medical world have come along in the last 10 years in relation to sports science, so perhaps a complete rewrite of the rule book is in order.
As for the "doping" comment, I would love to see a football take a load of weed, then have a much better match. If anything, that kind of dope should deserve an award if the player is able to perform even half as well haha
On a separate note, does anyone remember the use of horse semen as a performance enhancer?
But as a FM pointed out, how long before an athlete is "injured" and receives the same treatment?
It must go on (and definitely does in other sports).
I'm sure I can remember watching a feature on him on Sportsnight where he explained how he did this
Lots of middle distance runners in the 1970s right up to the mid 80s were using transfusions.
Take blood when an athlete is out of season and inject it back in season in the run up to a meet. You can also centrifuge out the plasma and just inject the red cells. As they are your red cells, the technique was undetectable.
A lot of middle distance runners were doing this, a VERY VERY famous one who broke records was reportedly doing this. If it got out, it would be as shocking as Armstrong.
After we had EPO (which is fantastic by the way), blood transfusions were not needed.
The case with Defoe is a strange one. If he was not declared "injured", the technique could effectively give him a performance boost (on top of his normal capacity).
If you inject rbc's back or take EPO, you are basically left with a blood circulation that's very high in rbcs. Great for carrying oxygen, but it thickens the blood and can cause clots if you get the mix wrong.
Shouldn't we just ban all of these techniques from football?
But blood doping generally uses their own blood. Do you think that's ok?
On an ethical level yes but only in it's safe and transparent use. I accept that's unlikely.
How do you find it ok ethically?
If you are injecting GH or increasing your rbc count by manipulating your own body with machines (basically a syringe, a 'fridge and a centrifuge) then is it so different to achieving the exact same result by taking EPO?
How would you feel if it were artificial GH?
I can't find a reason as to why it would morally incorrect. I object on safety grounds and if one athlete is doing it and everyone lose obeys the rules then that's cheating.
If it's safe and declared then go ahead.
If 1 person does it, it is so effective a performance increase that everyone would need to do the same, and push the envelope of "safe".