What is adrenaline?

What is Adrenaline?

Adrenaline (also known as Epinephrine) is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. These glands can be found positioned at the top of your kidneys and typically produces a small amount to help maintain normal blood pressure.

These glands make up part of your endocrine system, working in harmony with the immune and nervous system. 

The adrenal gland also produces other hormones, which include: cortisol; aldosterone and androgen.

When produced in larger quantities, adrenaline: constricts blood vessels; dilates air passages; increases heart rate and is naturally a cause of a physically exhilarating circumstance or when your body senses possible danger that could be harmful. In a broader sense 'fight or flight' is a very common term used to sum up adrenaline.

However in this modern world, people are dealing with stress on a daily basis  and this can cause the production of higher levels of adrenaline where physically challenging or dangerous situations don't occur.

The physical dangers that we may face does result in higher levels of adrenaline production (as talked about above), leaving high amounts of adrenaline and cortisol in the system. This is what causes stress-related problems such as insomnia and a lack of immunity to illnesses.

When large volumes of adrenaline are produced, your physical ability enhances for a short amount of time (not in appearance) to help deal with the expected danger/challenge. In a healthy human body, roughly 80% of the produced hormone is made up of adrenaline. The other 20% is norepinephrine. 

When you experience an adrenaline rush, it can be a pleasurable experience and is far from boring. Examples of this would be extreme sports and scary theme park rides. In fact, there are many people around the globe who search solely for these adrenaline rushes because of the pleasure it brings, these people are commonly referred to as 'adrenaline junkies'.

Medical Usages 

Adrenaline is used medically to help in treatment for:

1. Cardiac arrest,

2. Anaphylaxis,

3. Croup,

4. Can be used for local anaesthetics.