The practice by which athletes abuse commercial erythropoietin by injecting it to increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood is known as

The term Doping is essentially what athletes on Erythropoietin or EPO commonly known as use. It increases the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. Erythropoietin is usually produced by the kidneys when oxygen in the blood gets to low levels.

The prime regulator of red cell production is erythropoietin and its major functions are to:

- Promote the development of red blood cells.

- Initiate the synthesis of hemoglobin, the molecule within red blood cells that transports oxygen.

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