Adrenaline (also called epinephrine) is part of your body’s stress response system, often referred to as the “fight or flight” response that was needed for our ancient ancestors. So, what’s it doing in our bodies in the 21st century?

Adrenaline is one of the hormones produced by the adrenal glands, which are approximately 7.5 cm in length and can be found directly above your kidneys. When you are exposed to a stressful, dangerous situation, you brain will instruct the adrenal glands to release these hormones directly into you bloodstream. The hormones react immediately with various parts of your body to prepare it for a physical response to the situation that causes stress, whether to “fight” or to “flee”!

The following may happen when these hormones are released:

    • Increased heart rate
    • Contracted blood vessels and increased blood pressure
    • Dilated air passages
    • Increased blood flow to the muscles
    • Increased blood flow to the lungs
    • Heightened awareness
    • Increased respiration
    • Feeling lightheaded, dizzy
    • Enlarging the pupil in the eye and therefore changes in vision.

These changes are all meant to help your body react quickly to danger. It will give you an “adrenaline rush”, that is, a nearly instant physical boost. Your strength and speed will both increase, while you will feel less pain. This reaction is meant to last a relatively short time (more or less one hour) to enable you to deal with the dangerous situation.

When the stressful situation ends, the nerve impulses to the adrenal glands are lowered and the adrenal glands stop producing adrenaline.

If there’s no real danger…

The adrenaline released in our body is helpful because it can propel us into effective action. Police officers, fire fighters, paramedics and emergency doctors, for example, need this adrenaline in their day-to-day work lives. Occasionally, we do to – when we have to jump out of the way or catch something falling off a shelf etc. We also need some adrenaline in order to perform at your best. Moderate amounts of stress can help us perform tasks more efficiently and can improve our memory.

However, when there is no real danger and the release of adrenaline and other hormones does not lead to action, your body’s preparedness for the dangerous situation has no outlet, and you may feel restless and irritable. In the long run, and if under constant stress, your heart muscle may suffer, you may suffer from sleeplessness and you may become jittery. In addition you may suffer from heart palpitations, tachycardia, arrhythmia, anxiety, headache, tremor, hypertension and acute pulmonary edema. Broad alterations throughout all organ systems may also occur.

We all live stressful lives these days. So how is one to prevent these potentially harmful effects? By mimicking the original fight response – and in this day and age it means physical activity. Playing sports and exercising regularly are the best ways to counteract the harmful effects of stress and too much “flight or fight” hormones in our bodies.

 

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://stress.about.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
http://www.wisegeek.com h
ttp://www.yourhormones.info