How Is This Not Cheating?

Chad Billingsley is the latest athlete to use the relatively new platelet rich plasma treatment to recover from injury, and though people might call it recovery assistance or whatever, I don't see how it's not cheating.

The experimental treatment that was credited for healing the elbows of Takashi Saito and Claudio Vargas is being used to treat Billingsley's hamstring.

Billingsley received an injection of platelet-rich plasma in his leg Saturday, which was why trainer Stan Conte thought he was able to make enough progress to throw a bullpen session Monday.

Like Saito and Vargas, Billingsley had blood drawn and spun to isolate the platelets, which clot and promote healing.

The platelets, 10 times more concentrated than in normal blood, were injected into the site of the injury.

Torre said he remained hopeful that Billingsley can make his next scheduled start, against St. Louis on Monday at Dodger Stadium.

Can somebody explain what makes this more acceptable than steroids or greenies?

When I looked for answers to my question, I found this site, which explains the difference between blood doping and platelet treatment, though it still sounds a lot like cheating to me either way.

Take for example blood doping.

(1) You draw the athlete’s blood, centrifuge it (i.e. rotate it) at high speed, separating the red blood cells (RBC) from the plasma.

(2) Your body will produce its own red blood cells to compensate from your blood loss.

(3) You store the packed red blood cells in a refrigerator or freezer (RBC have a 120 day lifecycle).

(4) Then just before competition, you re-inject the red blood cells back into your body.

Now, you can take that one step further and use your relative’s blood of the same blood type so you don’t have a reaction or anaphylactic shock.

It’s also called cheating.

Now, the reverse situation is happening. But is it cheating?

I don't see why not.

In this case, you still draw your own blood and centrifuge it for the other half of the test tube. The platelets that release proteins and other particles are used in the body’s self-healing process.

Unlike blood doping, where it is injected into the bloodstream, the platelet-rich plasma is injected directly to the surrounding injury area and not into the bloodstream. This is where the healing begins, as the surrounding tissues become repaired, notably soft tissue such as tendons, ligaments and cartilage.

So the difference between blood doping and platelet treatment is basically the location of where you're injecting the red blood cells back into your body. Is that really it? Wow.

Call me crazy, but I don't see how one is rationalized and accepted in sports, while the other is universally demonized as cheating. Steroids and human growth hormone can help the healing process as well, and in some cases, they also just use what your body already naturally produces, so why are they not legal under certain circumstances too? What's the difference, really? You tell me, because I don't get it.