Everyday Asprin & red blood cells...?

thefd
thefd Posts: 1,021
edited May 2013 in Road general
I can't seem to find an answer online (not one I can understand), so I'm wondering if anyone here knows.

Drug cheats take EPO to thicken the blood by increasing red blood cells. Does taking everyday Asprin (which thins the blood) actually reduce red blood cells? Therefore reducing how much oxygen is carried in the blood? And therefore meaning I am making my cycling life harder for myself?
2017 - Caadx
2016 - Cervelo R3
2013 - R872
2010 - Spesh Tarmac

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Comments

  • Cleat Eastwood
    Cleat Eastwood Posts: 7,508
    I think like warfarin - aspirin thins blood in that it stops the blood cells sticking together - not sure it actually reduces the amount of cells. Or so my vampire friend 'Pointy Tooth O'Malley' says
    The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
    momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.
  • englander
    englander Posts: 232
    Have you got it a bit the wrong way around? EPO is not taken to thicken the blood, that is actually deleterious. It's taken to upregulate the synthesis of red blood cells which has the side effect of thickening the blood. Look up polycythaemia if you're interested.

    Warfarin (inhibits Vitamin K which is required for synthesis of various clotting factors) and aspirin (irreversible COX inhibitor) have no effect on the production of red blood cells and therefore the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.
    Specialized Allez 2010
    Strava
  • thefd
    thefd Posts: 1,021
    Englander wrote:
    Have you got it a bit the wrong way around?
    Yes I probably do... :D
    Englander wrote:
    ...no effect on the production of red blood cells and therefore the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.
    Thanks that's all I needed to hear!
    2017 - Caadx
    2016 - Cervelo R3
    2013 - R872
    2010 - Spesh Tarmac
  • rhodrigwyn
    rhodrigwyn Posts: 26
    aspirin doesn't thin the blood. It acts on the platelets in your blood- they are the things that stick together to form clots, aspirin stops them sticking together (and to things like cholesterol stuck in the walls of your arteries). the cox inhibitor bit is the anti inflammatory part- it seperately acts on thromboxane to stop clotting.
  • Stewpot407
    Stewpot407 Posts: 97
    Same as Warfarin, it doesn't actually make the blood thinner it just reduces its ability to clot (Wife has been on and off it for 10 years).

    Cheers

    Stew
    An aging Trek 5500 OCLV
    Not so aging Pina Dogma (AK61)

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.