What is your hematocrit?
07-19-08, 11:57 AM
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What is your hematocrit?
This is probably a repeat post, but the recent Tour de France/Ricco/EPO incident triggers this. I had a battery of routine blood tests done on April 1, 2008. My hemacrit was 40.7/hemoglobin 14.0. Good values for a woman but no one would flag me for targeted blood doping testing! As my tag line reads, "who needs EPO?"
07-19-08, 02:36 PM
#2
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49.9... just a little under the limit. 
<kidding> It was 44.1 the last time it got measured.
<kidding> It was 44.1 the last time it got measured.
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Last edited by kuan; 07-19-08 at 03:10 PM.
07-19-08, 02:41 PM
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This is probably a repeat post, but the recent Tour de France/Ricco/EPO incident triggers this. I had a battery of routine blood tests done on April 1, 2008. My hemacrit was 40.7/hemoglobin 14.0. Good values for a woman but no one would flag me for targeted blood doping testing! As my tag line reads, "who needs EPO?"
07-19-08, 02:46 PM
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07-19-08, 02:47 PM
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07-19-08, 02:49 PM
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I had hematocrit as low as 30 when I was on kidney dialysis and the months leading up to it. Prescribed EPO brought it up to about 35 or so. No need for it since my kidney transplant, but my hematocrit is still not up to 40 as far as I know. Believe it or not, before renal failure gradually set in, I was one of those people who had a naturally high hematocrit (almost always slightly above 50%), as I know from my old military medical records. But boy, does it ever make a big difference when it starts getting lower. It's like night and day when it comes to exercise tolerance and performance. Similarly, based on my medical experience with this, I can also see what a huge performance advantage the illegal EPO users have over the clean riders - especially for high intensity climbing stages.
07-19-08, 04:40 PM
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Mine was 46 at a physical in the early spring. From reading other threads, it's probably closer to 50 now that I'm riding much more.
But remember, it's sleep high, train low...I sleep on the second floor of our house.
But remember, it's sleep high, train low...I sleep on the second floor of our house.
07-20-08, 05:25 AM
#9
Just ride.
Mine's typically in the very low 40s. Agree w/riko, I think if you train/ride a lot your body retains more water, reducing the hematocrit reading.
Last edited by roadbuzz; 07-20-08 at 05:31 AM.
07-20-08, 07:41 AM
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Las time I had it tested it was in the low 30s. I had some health problems, so hopefully its higher now...
07-20-08, 08:26 AM
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This is probably a repeat post, but the recent Tour de France/Ricco/EPO incident triggers this. I had a battery of routine blood tests done on April 1, 2008. My hemacrit was 40.7/hemoglobin 14.0. Good values for a woman but no one would flag me for targeted blood doping testing! As my tag line reads, "who needs EPO?"
07-20-08, 03:54 PM
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Here are some thoughts about hematocrit: It's a measure of the volume of red cells and other "solid" blood components as they compare to the liquid portion of blood. So, a person could have a falsly elevated hematocrit simply by being dehydrated.
Hemoglobin is the part of the blood that actually transports oxygen. So, while you could have a super high hematocrit, if the red cells are defective, then it's not a good indicator of your oxygen carrying capacity.
The reality is that we need to consider both hemoglobin and hematocrit. Of course, there are some things that will elevate your hemoglobin, such as smoking and living at a higher elevation.
Hemoglobin is the part of the blood that actually transports oxygen. So, while you could have a super high hematocrit, if the red cells are defective, then it's not a good indicator of your oxygen carrying capacity.
The reality is that we need to consider both hemoglobin and hematocrit. Of course, there are some things that will elevate your hemoglobin, such as smoking and living at a higher elevation.
09-30-08, 09:03 PM
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Interesting thread ...
How does one test for hematocrit levels? I live at about 8,300 feet and wonder what mine is ...
How does one test for hematocrit levels? I live at about 8,300 feet and wonder what mine is ...
10-01-08, 10:52 AM
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Pretty steadily 44-45.
10-01-08, 11:13 AM
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It is really easy. You remove blood. You take a little bit of the blood and suck it up into a thin glass tube. You plug the ends of the tube in what looks like plasticine. Then you spin the tube really fast on a miniture centrifuge. That way all of the red blood cells go to one end and you have a tube that is part RBC and part plasma. You just compare it to a scale to get hematocrit.
