The doping-drug Epo has an impact in the brain Sportsmen and
women dope with the blood hormone Epo to enhance their
performance. Researchers from the University of Zurich now
discovered by animal testing that Epo has a performance-
enhancing effect in the brain shortly after injection and not
only after days by improving oxygen transport in blood. As Epo
also increases motivation, it could be useful in treating
depression. The well-known blood hormone Epo is not only used
for medicinal purposes; some athletes misuse it for doping. It
boosts the number of red blood cells, thereby increasing the
transport of oxygen to the muscles. This leads to improvements
in performance, which can especially give endurance athletes
such as cyclists or marathon runners the edge. Epo has immediate
impact on exercise performance In a recently published study,
Max Gassmann, a veterinary physiologist from the University of
Zurich, proved that Epo also drastically increases motivation in
the brain as soon as it has been injected, wi