Should Baseball Ban Altitude Tents?

by user Awrigh01

In an article in USA Today, titled ''Athlete tent gives druglike boost. Should it be legal?'', discusses the use of "altitude tents" to enhance sports performance. Altitude tents "either remove oxygen or decrease the concentration of oxygen. Like thin mountain air, the gaseous concoction can induce physiological changes that increase an athlete's endurance, experts say."

While there is no scientific consensus on the cause of the extent of the benefits of such "altitude tents," many critics oppose the technology because its effects are very similar to those obtained by using the banned substance EPO. At an altitude of about 8,000 feet or higher, an athlete's body will start to release more EPO, creating the same effect.

The question then becomes is this worse than steroids? Is this worse than LASIK surgery? Should sports fans just succumb to the fact that professional athletes will tranform themselves into super-humans?

Date
Fri 05/12/06, 8:39 am EST