[medved]

Too much hemoglobin??????? What kind of BS is that?

[Dominic Harr]

Early Withdrawl?

How embarrassing.

[Tailback]

It's called blood doping. It's when the number of red blood cells is artificially increased to allow for increases in the amount of oxygen transported to the muscles. Very useful for a long distance runner or perhaps a cross country skier, no?

[LenS]

I believe that too much hemoglobin is a sign of blood tampering. I recall that cyclists supposedly would put aside blood samples ahead of an event. Then they would reinject additional red (or was it white?) blood cells from those samples to increase their endurance. It supposedly was also done by distance runners. Cross-country skiers would also be likely candidates. Darn, I know that I'm messing up the details.

[Cicero]

Extra red cells means more oxygen carried in the blood. This can be done by blood doping or, worse, by getting the athlete pregnant and then aborting the baby.

[bootless]

Blood packing, I think. Illegal.

[HardStarboard]

>>>Too much hemoglobin??????? What kind of BS is that?<<<

It no BS! Hemoglobin carries oxygen in the blood - it can be boosted by a drug called EPO - made by Amgen, it was one of the first biotech "miracle" drugs. It is a life saver if you suffer from anemia....which can be brought on by chemotherapy.

It's also evidently hot stuff if you want to break world records.....