Hinting darkly that some Scandinavian and Communist countries already employ such techniques, Western coaches and trainers have been searching for years for a safe, drugless way of improving athletes' performances. Swedish researchers may now have developed a technique that can do just that. In a series of experiments at Stockholm's Institute of Gymnastics and Sports, Dr. Bjorn Ekblom gave physical education students transfusions of their own red blood cells, which carry oxygen to muscles and other tissues. The result was the kind of boost in endurance that could mean the difference between a gold medal and none at all.
Called "blood doping"...
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