Adrenaline (also called epinephrine). It’s a hormone most people are aware of and they usually think they know exactly what it is. Where does it come from? Well, it’s the hormone produced by the adrenal gland, “ad” means “near” and “renes” means kidney. A gland next to the kidney. Slow clap for the creative biologists, again. Epinephrine isn’t better, as “Epi” means “on top of” and “nephros” is “the kidney” too.
We know it’s related to stress. We’ve all heard stories about “mothers lifting cars” and such. @bachuslib asked me how that works after I referenced adrenaline in my latest fiction story. That was the moment I noticed that I don’t know as much about this topic as I should, so I thought “sure, why not, let’s research and write”.
And then I learned, I knew even less than expected. And the generally available knowledge on this topic isn’t as great as I expected it to be.
First and foremost, the “lifted a whole car”-thing is likely a myth. A car is way too heavy. Sure, we’re unable to use 100% of our strength, even a weightlifter uses only a maximum of 80% according to one of my sources below. But how big is your strength? @suesa
I can deadlift maybe about 40 - 50 kg but I’ve been working out. Let’s shoot low and say that’s half my absolute strength … 100% would still be a maximum of 100 kg. Not enough to lift a car. But enough to lift part of a car! Which might be enough to get a child out or lift it a few centimeters to put a car-jack under it.
Still, that’s far from the superhuman strength often reported in a high-stress situation. And in any case, it’ll be hard to research, as you can’t scare humans in a controlled setting so much that they go into survival mode. That’d be unethical!
What does adrenaline do then?
It increases the bodily functions needed to either fight or flee: Heart rate goes up and so does breathing, which increases the oxygen available for our muscles. And yes, we use more of our muscle strength.
These effects are used to “bring back” people that suffered cardiac arrest. An adrenaline injection can restart the heart, if it works as intended. And if you have an anaphylactic shock, it also opens up your airways and gives you precious time to get to the hospital.
But hey, increased heartbeat, increased breathing, more oxygen, more muscle strength? That sounds great for sport! I mean, of course, it’d count as doping, so we have to be very careful not to be caught, but in theory, we could boost ourselves with an adrenaline shot and set a new world record? And who would catch us? Maybe we’re just very excited!
In theory, that might work. The high pressure during those events causes us to produce adrenaline anyway, how else would athletes be possible to suddenly break their own records during a competition? But although there are effects, it seems like the performance can’t be significantly improved. And even worse, if you do it wrong and get a dose that’s too high for you, you might kill yourself. Is that really worth it?
An increased heart rate is not that great!
A constantly high level of adrenaline has negative effects on our body. You’ve all experienced this during stressful times when you just couldn’t wind down. You become sick faster, feel tired all the time and it just generally sucks.
That makes the following info almost unbelievable: Short-term stress actually enhances the response of your innate *and adaptive immune system! Especially during the early stages of an immune response, a little bit of stress can be beneficial.
When it goes on for too long though, it’ll harm you again. Small doses of everything I guess. Too much of anything is never good.
So, what do we learn from that info?
Take care of yourself! If you’re in a high-stress environment, find ways to calm yourself down from time to time. Don’t let the stress take over and ruin your immune system. We weren’t built to be in a constant fight-or-flight mode, even though our current environment tends to force us to.
And if you belong to the lucky people who are never stressed, ever! You might consider stressing yourself once in a while. Get that heart pumping! That adrenaline flowing through your veins! And then go back to being relaxed and enjoy your day.
Sources:
How it’s possible for an ordinary person to lift a car
The rush to adrenaline: drugs in sport acting on the β-adrenergic system
Adrenaline and the plateau phase of the cardiac action potential
Pictures taken from pixabay.com
Great share!! I never broke down the root words of adrenals! 🤓🏆 Himalayan sea salt and water will calm the adrenals in case of over work. Laying off of stimulants☕️ and intermittent fasting could both help restore normal function in case anyone has got themself into a bad spot.😁👌🏼
Himalayan salt is, to your body, not different than other salt. You'd need to consume it in technically deadly quantities to have an effect. But water? Water is great. Give your body lots of water and rest.
Super agree since NaCl is NaCl but I just wanted to point at a higher mineral content salt (and pink is the one I prefer😌) without listing them out or clarifying.
Too much water without minerals sends the adrenals into overdrive. Most athletes aren’t dehydrated, they are mineral deficient and lack the ability to retain and store water properly.
Rest is my middle name.😋😴
I think I will really enjoy your blog! You have a new follower🙏🏼😌📈
When you have to recover from adrenal fatigue or burnout yo do it like that, you allow small amounts of stress and build it up until the adrenals work properly again. You r adrenals can also get fatigued when there is inflammation in the body due to for example food allergies, which in turn develop from an unbalanced gut. Just cutting back the stress won't help in that case. You have to heal your gut and balance your body with the right kinds of foods and supplements. I wrote an article on that yesterday, you're welcome to check it out: https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@clara-andriessen/natural-or-synthetic-vitamins-how-to-tell-the-difference-and-how-to-make-your-own
Have you heard of Wim Hof? The man that run a marathon in snow bare feet, climbed Everest only in shorts. All that without getting any frostbite. They put him in ice-filled container and medically supervised him for an hour and he did not show any signs of hypothermia.
He claims he can trigger an adrenaline by his will with a special method of breathing. Science tells us adrenaline is triggered spontaneously. However, this man is still a mystery.
Is there any way apart from getting an adrenaline shot directly, to stimulate adrenal gland to release adrenaline?
Never heard of him before, but there are always weird outliners
@suesa, Wim Hof isn't an outlier, he has shown his method to many people. He goes on regular outings in the mountains with light layers of clothing with a group of around 26 people or so. Through breathing methods, they are able to activate re-active their brown fat repositories and convert visceral fat into heat....That's the claim at least. I've followed his methods and I've defiantly seen personal improvement. We hardly ever get the amount to oxygen in our blood as we are capable of getting, but through hyper-ventilation, the muscles take a lot more to fatigue and gives you way more strength. As for adrenaline, any form of bio-feedback can allow you to take control over a typically autonomic function with practice.
there are cases where one can stimulate the adrenal gland to release adrenaline in animals but i never heard of a proven scientific fact that a person can trigger adrenaline by himself consciously.
sympathetic nervous system cannot be consciously triggered to release adrenaline from the adrenal medulla as claimed by the marathon runner.
agreed...
you can create a conscious adrenaline trigger and just to prove the point let's try this experiment -
close your eyes and imagine a dangerous situation you have been in, a good example will be a fight as a kid. visualize the situation with maximum detail. You will notice your heartbeat has gone up and you start to experience muscle tension around your arms and it's very likely you will clinch your teeth, your mind has triggered the adrenal gland to prepare you for a fight. multiple studies have shown that visualization triggers the same areas in the brain as a live experience - and the body reaction is set off. to train this you need to create an anchor with the desired response.
to practice this you just need to anchor the feeling
You can train yourself to adjust your heartbeat through your breath, maybe there is a way to do so with adrenaline.
Human body can so such amazing things we don't expect.
Our pituitary gland is responsible for producing those hormones too. I suffer from adrenal fatigue, and at my worst i'd go in to complete adrenaline mode with the full shakes, sweats and fast heart rate with even the slightest noise that wouldn't be stressful for most people. It was messed up. Our adrenals need loving! It's not very fun when they're not functioning properly.
Kay, the pituitary's action results in epinephrine release, but not directly from the adrenal medulla.
When stimulated, the pituitary releases ACTH, AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone, which stimulates the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine. Suesa is correct too saying moderation is key when speaking of these stimulating hormones. It is now known that one reason sleep apnea is so dangerous is that the disturbed sleep cycles cause excess catecholamine release (substances like epinephrine) which stress the heart and blood vessels. They're normally stressed while we're awake and active, but when they're stressed when the body is in its "rest" phase, then the body essentially never rests. High blood pressure and eventually even heart failure can develop from long term sleep apnea.
This is anecdotal evidence, but I have heard multiple accounts of people in Jiu-Jitsu tournaments who are competing for the first time, and just as their fight starts they get this huge adrenaline dump that stimulates them for a few minutes... and afterwards they crash down and feel completely exhausted and even unfit for their next match.
So, it would seem like too much adrenaline at once topples the balance towards it being draining more than stimulating.
Very interesting post as per usual, @suesa!
I have heard the stories about old ladies lifting cars clear off the ground to save trapped children, and it set off my urban legend detector. I thought it must be a lie or at least an embellishment.
I can certainly see how maybe a healthy individual might be able to summon the strength to lift up maybe a corner of the car as you suggested.
I do wonder, though, what kind of damage they'd suffer as a result and how long it would take to recover. I'd imagine those "limits" adrenaline helps us break are there for a reason, right? I've read that we tear our muscles down each time we work out, just for them to be rebuilt in stronger form.... so is it too much of a "stretch" to suggest that adrenaline could cause us to snap one of our muscles in half or something?
Not necessarily snap in half but damage? Sure.
I really like your information since it basically clarifies many doubts I had about the subject. It is impressive that "everything in excess is bad" applies to everything. I never thought it would be good to get stressed from time to time! Hahaha. I think that apart from everything, we should enjoy and feel every situation, action and feeling, that is what will remind us that we are alive. Excellent post, greetings!
The decrease in the immune response can be correlated with cortisol, cortisol will be released by the body on a fight or flee situation, especially when it's triggered by adrenaline, that cortisol is going to break down muscle, fat, and carbs so that you get more available energy to actually fight or flee.
This is a huge problem nowadays, ppl who work stressful jobs are less likely to have their hormone system in check, making them fat, obese, diabetic, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure and, don't quote me on this one, even suicide might be related to unstable hormones.
Great post Suesa :)
I think it's very good information. The other day I seriously argued with my friend and I found myself trembling in the end. Now I know it's because of adrenaline. Human body is full of mysteries.
Wow, what a very interesting read my rockstar! Very interesting! Thank you!
I've heard amazing stories but sadly it's difficult to know what is real and what is not, especially afterwards when people themselves might be a bit confused of what had happened.
But I've noticed that in some cases we really can do things we normally can't when we are in a dangerous situation. I've felt faster and stronger in situations which seemed dangerous, but I'm not sure if it was just a feeling or real.
It'd be nice to know what is the thing which makes parents so much faster and aware when their children are falling down from all the dangerous places. I suck as things like being a soccer goalie, but when my son was younger and about to fall down from somewhere, I was freaking fast to react.
Maybe it's... Dadrenaline.
Dadrenaline is totally a thing
Just as one of my pharmacology lecturer said,"adrenaline is a good friend but a possible killer" . It has a lot of good functions but if not controlled, can be very lethal. That's why adrenaline is not an "over the counter" drug but a "prescription only" . Only special clinicians are supposed to apply it on patients. Your post is very informative. This adrenaline can be produced from the skin of toad.
I am short tempered and I also overthink a lot so adrenaline never seems to leave my side. Though music among other few things can calm me down, I'd like to reduce my episodes more. So I am avoiding stress as much as I can currently.And I think I can proudly say its working. Thank you for such an elaborative piece :)
While I have often witnessed that sudden surge of engergy when pumped up with adrenaline, it's nowhere close to superhuman and you tend to burn out real quick when that happens too.. Thanks for the informative writeup..
I guess you could get caught after using adrenaline as doping, as we would probably be able to detect by-products of the preperation, plastic packing residues etc. with LC/GC-MS. ;-)
Almost needless to say: Very nice article, I enjoyed reading.
Thanks for the informative article. I like the part where it explains being constantly stressed lowers your immune system and causes sickness. I think this hits home to me when I'm overworked. I agree we weren't meant to be in constant fight or flight mode. I feel this way at my office job sometimes, we all need to tone it down!
For anyone interested, there is a type of tumour/ cancer called a phaeochromocytoma (cool word!) that arises from adrenal tissue and produces adrenaline. People diagnosed with phaeochromocytoma ALWAYS have adrenalin levels that are too high and as such suffer some pretty anoying side effects such as anxiety, weight loss and a really rapid heart rate (but no super strength). Thankfully it's a treatable tumour with a good prognosis!
@bachuslib I think what you're saying is interesting, but perhaps Wim HoF had another method? Adrenalin is a really good vasoconstrictor and as such would shut down peripheral circulation... the problem is over an extended period of time that tissue would die, and it wouldn't buy enough time to climb Everest. I looked this guy up and he tried to but never succeeded in climbing Everest but he does do some crazy stuff!
@kaykunoichi it's interesting you mention the pituitary gland because it's (in essance) responsible for the control of most of our endocrine hormones. Adrenaline is not produced in the pituitary itself, but the production of adrenaline is stimulated by two hormones that ARE produced in the pituitary (CRH and ACTH). The adrenals don't only make adrenalin though. It also produces cortisol to help us control our base metabolic rate, aldosterone to control our blood pressure and some sex hormones which are vital in deciding our sex during development, but don't play a huge role in the adult body. When people suffer from adrenal fatigue they don't produce enough of any of these hormones, which is what makes it such a shitty condition to treat :(
Great post @suesa, alot of good information.
From some sources i can't tell the name of, i know that people who run from the cops also get an amazing adrenaline boost. I've "heard" them say: "It's like we can run alot faster and don't get tired as usually". This explains that the fear to be caught creates adrenaline giving you the feeling that you can keep running forever. However, this is not true since eventually you will run out of breath and have to stop, unless you're someone from the olympics, but then you wouldn't be running from the cops i guess.
This is the exact reason powerlifters and strongmen use ammonia caps/smelling salts before a big lift or movement, kicks the adtenaline into overdrive, I have only done it once myself but I was able to do 15lbs over my one rep max for my deadlift which was lovely.
this really spurred adrenaline. to realize success, must with hard work. men need a challenge .... !!!!
good information is that also added in energy drinks @suesa?
I am giving adrenaline as a injection when they are going bradycardia or cardiac arrest.
This is booster hormone of the body when they active our body is fully activated and we can do more work.
Adrenaline is excrete with adrenal gland. some feature are common of atropine and adrenaline.
Thank you @suesa for shared good informative post thumbs up for you.
Adrenaline is generally not added to energy drinks as that would be very unsafe.
Caffeinated drinks do boost epinephrine levels though... Adrenaline is one of the two mechanisms whereby caffeine gives its stimulating effects. Antagonising adenosine receptors is the other.
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I am an athlete myself and i really appreciate the reading.
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Within few minutes while a stressful time, adrenaline is quickly supplied into the blood and giving signals to the organs to ready for a specific response.
I use to have a high blood pressure of 180/120, and it really affected my breathing I was told it was a rush inside me, well it needed a week sleep to fix me
Hello my dear friend ,
very nice ideas and b, knowledge. I love the article!
I congratulate you on this
Good
We adapt to difficult situations due to the function of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
When we face a new or challenging situation, sympathetic nervous system(fight or flight) comes into play. While the sympathetic nervous system is in action, parasympathetic system starts balancing it. It helps the person to adapt and prevents the freezing effect of the sympathetic nervous system.
UpVote To say "ultra post".
Nice work
I remember the first time I had adrenaline. It felt so amazing.
Balance is needed. I do both - relax my bodu and mind with cannabis and play football to have adrenaline flowing.
Thank you for well done article! Have a lovely day!
Interesting read. My normal perception of adrenaline is that it is a reduction in inhibition much like how alcohol does for the mind (and mouth), adrenaline allows your muscles to operate at full power, even risking tearing muscles or breaking the bone.
We may never be superhuman but we can at least tap our human potential with adrenaline. but the big question is not if we can but rather if we should.
Hi tad, so adrenaline doesn't really affect the brain like alcohol (in terms of reducing inhibition) but it does allow us to focus on one percieved threat. As such we're more likely to ignore other things that we'd often consider threats (ie: social stigma)...
Adrenaline itself doesn't change how well we use our muscles (how well we recruit them) but it can increase blood flow.
More importantly however is that when we get a surge that releases adrenaline, adrenaline isn't the ONLY thing being released. Our brain in switching to flight-or-fight tones out pain, fear and reason. This is why people who're 'hyped up' often don't feel the injuries they sustain till AFTER the event. :)
I can feel the adrenaline after 1-2 hours of football, when I’m tired but always I have energy for another sprint :)) . Interesting post about this hormon, people deserve to know more about their body .
Pretty obvious isn't it ? 🏋🏽
Which part?
The fact that we gain more physical strength when an adrenaline rush kicks in.
Why is that obvious? We could just as well just feel like we're stronger. Which happens too, by the way.
There exists more hormone like Adrenaline.
As far as I know, two of them are Norepinephrine (released from the adrenal glands and also from the brain ) and Cortisol ( produced by the adrenal glands ).
Norepinephrine isn’t as important as Adrenaline But In survival mode, the optimal amounts of cortisol can be life saving. It helps to maintain fluid balance and blood pressure.
BTW thanks for sharing your opinion 🙂
It’s true - in life, we need a little bit of everything to achieve balance. Sometimes we need stress to cope up with the environment and learn essential life lessons. But after the stress, there should be time for peace and recovery. 🙂 Thus, only use adrenaline when you REALLY need super strength. And after consuming your adrenaline, take ample time to rest.
Thanks for sharing!
And actually stress causes a lot of health problems that can lead you to an early death.
Human body can do the impossible things if he/she is on adrenaline state
that is why adrenaline should only last for a few seconds as the body cannot withstand its toll.
our body is like an engine, the more energy you put into work the more efficient and effective the output will be but unlike engine's who has high tolerance for heat, our body cannot take to much pressure from the adrenaline coursing throughout our body. The tolerance of each individual will vary depending on how the muscles are being work and true fact, a pregnant women lifting a car is a myth and an adrenaline cannot make a person have super strength it will only boost that persons optimum capacity for a few seconds.
Well done job @suesa.This is a good information about ephinephrin.I guess alot of people would have packed up if this hormone ceased to function.But I want to ask a question,is it possible that over secretions may leads to damage of kidney ?
I'd have to look into that, can't give a definite answer right now.
Okay.
steep, oversecretion of epinephrine, a catecholamine, doesn't so much damage the kidney nor adrenal gland, but the target organs being stimulated. A condition called pheochromocytoma mimics the very situation you ask about. Pheo's are collections of abnormal tissue which secrete catecholamines but are not under hypothalamic nor pituitary negative feedback control. Therefore, excess epinephrine like hormone is secreted and in elevated amounts and over prolonged periods. The stresses on the body include damage to the heart and blood vessels. Cardiac arrhythmias (tachyarrhythmias or fast arrhythmias) can develop from the over stimulation, as can high blood pressure, damage to heart muscle, and eventual heart failure. Eventually, if the condition goes into "crisis mode" other organs can fail from the prolonged excessive overstimulation , including the brain, heart, liver and kidneys.
oxygen boom does great for muscles, but what it does for brain?
same? sometimes people are thinking light speed fast, and making the right choices in critical moment. sometimes these decisions can be based on fragments of long forgotten memories. collected,processed, analysed and all that in 0,3 seconds. ive seen that in sport, war and traffic lol
desperate moves. sometimes totally illogical and unexpected, but at the end / only right ones. .
but again, more people will just freeze. or blackout. or do something really stupid.
doesnt look like explored area ^
whenever I play volleyball, my adrenaline is superb, I can't even run fast on a normal basis but when it comes to my sport, I'm different.
intresting post
i love hearing those stories of like mothers flipping cars and what not
I love posts like this, where we can learn and share our thoughts and experiences.
My husband had adrenal gland problems which caused him to be in pain and very tired. I've been working with essential oils and so I made his take it and now he is all well with no pain and got back his energy.
Good to hear he's better!
Excelente publicacion ya vote, sigueme