When blood-doping saves a life

What do Lance Armstrong and my cat Mekhala have in common? Yeah, they’ve both been blood-doping.

Just a week or so ago, Armstrong admitted, in a globally-broadcast TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, that he had taken drugs that boosted his blood and thus enhanced his performance.

Among the drugs he said he took was Epo.

To me, it’s very sad that Epo, also known as Erythropoietin or Epogen, has gained such a bad name from misuse by some athletes. This drug, however, has many life-saving uses, mainly for treating anaemia in such illnesses as kidney failure and even cancer.

Healthy kidneys secrete Erythropoietin naturally to stimulate the bone marrow to produce red blood cells.

In unhealthy kidneys, the production of this hormone falls, and as a result, the bone marrow slows down its production of red blood cells. Injecting artificially manufactured Epo can help the bone marrow to start producing red blood cells again and improve the patient’s life.

Doctors have to be careful, though, because the patient’s body can eventually develop antibodies that will interfere with the effectiveness of the hormone. Besides, although Epo can help improve the condition of the patient, the cause - kidney failure - cannot be cured. Eventually, the kidneys will shut down entirely, resulting in death.

For more than 10 years, cats and dogs suffering from kidney failure have been treated with Epo injections with pretty much the same results. 

Vets have to monitor their patients carefully, because antibodies eventually develop as well.

Mekhala herself is not suffering from kidney failure, but she does have feline Aids (Fiv). For five years, she has been healthy, more or less, despite a low white blood cell count.

Then, a few months ago, her red blood cell production began to drop. We knew she had anaemia because of her pale gums and nose, and when we checked her blood cell levels, my vet was shocked by how low her red blood cell count was. Her white blood cell count had dropped as well. She was as near death as any living creature could be.

Since the Aids virus affects bone marrow, the vet suggested trying Epo injections. Slowly, very slowly Mekhala’s red blood cell count began to rise, and then suddenly it shot up to the lower range of what is considered healthy in a cat. Her white blood cell count also rose.

Her gums and nose began to “pink up”; she even began to gain weight. Mekhala herself tells me that she’s happy, eating, fighting and playing the way she used to.

My vet was shocked again. “I didn't expect the results to be so high,” she said.

Now we’ve stopped the injections, because we don’t know when Mekhala’s body will start producing those antibodies. We’re in a balancing act, hoping that we can extend this wonderful creature’s life beyond what the Aids virus has decreed, although it will win in the end.

Armstrong took Epo because he wanted to win a bicycle race. Mekhala took the drugs to save her life.