"Spin" is the sixth episode of the second season of ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'', which premiered on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

on November 15, 2005. Written by

Sara Hess Sara Hess is a television writer and producer. She has worked in both capacities on the drama series ''House'' and ''Orange Is the New Black''. Career Hess joined the crew of the HBO western drama '' Deadwood'' as a writer for the second seaso ...

, it was directed by

Fred Gerber Fred Gerber is an American film and television director and television producer. Gerber has directed several popular television series which include ''The X-Files'', ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''House''. Gerber has also served as a producer o ...

. The episode explores how far a sports icon is willing to go to win, and how far the character of House will go to win Stacy back. Guest stars include

Sela Ward Sela Ann Ward (born July 11, 1956) is an American actress. Her breakthrough TV role was as Teddy Reed in the NBC drama series ''Sisters'' (1991–96), for which she received her first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama ...

as Stacy Warner and

Kristoffer Polaha Kristoffer Polaha is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles on television as Jason Matthews in ''North Shore (2004 TV series), North Shore'', Nate Bazile, Nathaniel "Baze" Bazile in ''Life Unexpected'', and Henry Butler in '' ...

as Jeff the cyclist.

Summary

Jeff, a well-known cyclist, is cycling in a non-profit charity race, when he is unable to breathe and taken to the hospital. House finds it surprising that Jeff admitted he is taking illegal enhancement drugs. He agreed to blood doping, which is common among cyclists, to better one's athletic performance. Because red blood cells carry oxygen between the lungs and the muscles, a higher number of red blood cells can increase an athlete's endurance. While trying to figure out what cause of Jeff's respiratory distress, they find an air embolus in his chest. While Dr. Chase works to remove the air bubble, Jeff begins to feel numbness in his legs, but is told that it might be due to the sedation. While his manager talks to the press, Jeff loses feeling in his legs. Dr. Cameron informs House that Jeff's red blood count is continually dropping, revealing that his body is no longer able to produce red blood cells on its own. House becomes convinced that Jeff lied about a specific drug that could be the cause of all of his symptoms,

erythropoietin Erythropoietin (; EPO), also known as erythropoetin, haematopoietin, or haemopoietin, is a glycoprotein cytokine secreted mainly by the kidneys in response to cellular hypoxia; it stimulates red blood cell production ( erythropoiesis) in th ...

(EPO), a hormone produced in the kidney that promotes the formation of red blood cells by the bone marrow. Adding more red blood cells increases the oxygen level in the blood, thus presumably causing all of Jeff's symptoms as he fails to produce red blood cells on his own. This explains him also having anemia, caused by chronic Acquired Pure Red Cell Aplasia (PRCA), probably resulting from blood doping. After responding to

prednisone Prednisone is a glucocorticoid medication mostly used to immunosuppressive drug, suppress the immune system and decrease inflammation in conditions such as asthma, COPD, and rheumatologic diseases. It is also used to treat high blood calcium ...

, Jeff begins losing more red blood cells, to the point of requiring a transfusion. House scans Jeff's neck and a

thymoma A thymoma is a tumor originating from the epithelial cells of the thymus that is considered a rare neoplasm. Thymomas are frequently associated with neuromuscular disorders such as myasthenia gravis; thymoma is found in 20% of patients with myast ...

is discovered; an extremely rare tumor on the

thymus The thymus (: thymuses or thymi) is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, T cells mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. The thymus ...

, confirming that he wasn't taking EPO, but did have Chronic Acquired Pure Red Cell Aplasia. Due to the diagnosis he can legally blood dope or get a thymectomy, which could only bring a temporary remission, after which he would have to be on medical steroids.

References

External links

"Spin"
at Fox.com * {{House (TV series) House season 2 episodes 2005 American television episodes Television episodes written by Sara Hess fr:La Course au mensonge