Military Use
In 1993, U.S. Special Forces commanders at Fort Bragg started experimenting with blood doping, also known as blood loading. Special forces operators would provide two units of whole blood, from which red blood cells would be extracted, concentrated, and stored under cold temperatures. Twenty-four hours before a mission or battle, a small amount of red blood cells would be infused back into the soldier. Military scientists believe that the procedure increases the soldiers' endurance and alertness because of the increase in the blood's capability to carry oxygen.
In 1998, the Australian Defence Forces approved this technique for the Special Air Service Regiment. Senior nutritionist at the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organization Chris Forbes-Ewan is quoted as saying that, unlike in sport, "all's fair in love and war." "What we are trying to gain is an advantage over any potential adversary," Forbes-Ewan said. "What we will have is a head-start."
In this study, over 50 performance-enhancing drugs and techniques were rejected. The six that were approved are caffeine, ephedrine, energy drinks, modafinil, creatine, and blood-loading.
Read more about this topic: Blood Doping
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