What are the negative effects of EPO?

get off the EPO dude

?? wrote:

Steroids hurt you in the long run etc I realize that.. what are the negative effects of EPO

Neither steroids nor EPO "hurt you in the long run," provided you use them with the respect and knowledge deserving of any drug.

The only "real" problem with EPO that applies to the vast majority of users is the is the increased risk of adverse cardiovascular complications if hematocrit is highly elevated. This is easily avoided by monitoring hematocrit via regular blood tests, and/or by keeping dosages within known safe ranges.

Provided you have some degree of common sense, you are about as likely to experience a serious adverse effect from EPO as from Tylenol.

Runners who use it suffer from gold medals and WRs. Terrible, terrible.

As was said before EPO acts on bone marrow to increase the amount of read blood cells that are created. This increases hematocrit (a % of red blood cells to your total blood volume - normal is 40-50% for an athlete) which increases bloods viscosity. This increased viscosity will increase blood pressure because it is harder to pump. If hematocrit gets to levels in the 55-60% range the blood can be so viscous that the heart cannot pump it = death.

Disqualification = Negative Effect

I see.

What are some notable runners that have used EPO in the past?

Also, how did they get caught/how is EPO detected (for example, how can you be caught if you kept your dosage within a reasonable amount)?

yeah, drsmrtypnts is right.

While most distance runners need to worry about amenia more than polycythemia, in the general population it is just as prevalent. Too many RBCs will make your heart work too hard with each contraction and you will decrease your lifespan.

Chris Bullock: In the case of EPO, there are two very important reasons to develop an effective deterrent. The first is the sporting reason, because it allows athletes to cheat. The second is a medical reason. It can kill you. Dr Peter Davis.

Peter Davis: EPO increases the red blood cells, and that increases what's called the haematocrit. So the blood becomes thicker, and obviously thicker blood is harder to pump than thinner blood. And in the thinking of some athletes' minds, if EPO works at a certain level, then perhaps a little bit more works better, then more works even better. So if an athlete takes artificial EPO without any controls, then the blood becomes quite thick. If that athlete then trains or competes in the heat, well then that dehydrates them even further, which means the blood is getting thicker and thicker. The blood can become so thick that in the early hours of the morning, for example, when the heart gets to its lowest rhythm, the heart can just stop, it just can become so hard to pump the blood because it's getting so thick, that it just stops beating.

SFX - HEARTBEAT STOPS

Chris Bullock: EPO has been blamed for the deaths of endurance athletes dating back as far as the 1980s. Long distance skiers were among the first to die from suspected EPO abuse, and in the past 15 years, as many as 50 cyclists are thought to have died from EPO. The Coroner's reports were generally inconclusive, again because synthetic EPO is not distinguishable from natural EPO, so abuse has not been provable.

-http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s114968.htm