Abstract
To investigate the distribution of blood hemoglobin levels in healthy blood donors and elite athletes, a retrospective cohort study from 2001 to 2005 of candidate blood donors and elite rowers in Denmark was performed. Eighty-five thousand eight hundred and forty-six blood donors were identified (36 962 males), and 3.9% of the males had a blood hemoglobin above 10.5 mM, equalling a hematocrit of 51% and, 1.6% of the females had hemoglobin above 9.7 mM, corresponding to a hematocrit above 47%. One thousand four hundred and six rowers (1116 males) were investigated and 10.4% of the males and 8.3% of the females demonstrated values above the recommended limit for athletic competition. Thus, the prevalence of a high hemoglobin value was greater in the rowers, of both gender, than in the candidate blood donors (P<0.0001). The data demonstrate that high hemoglobin levels in blood are seen regularly in normal people and especially in competition athletes
Udgivelsesdato: 2009/2
Udgivelsesdato: 2009/2
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 92-95 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| ISSN | 0905-7188 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |