What Is Adrenaline And How Does It Work?

Adrenaline is a natural hormone that your body is constantly producing in small doses. Adrenaline is produced in adrenal glands that are located above the kidneys. They are approximately 3 inches in length and about 1.5 inches in height. An adrenal gland is made up of two parts; one part is the medulla, which is the inner most part of the gland. The medulla is in charge of the making of adrenaline. The other part is the cortex.





In the first picture to the left,
the adrenal glands are pictured directly
above both kidneys. The adrenal glands
appear orange and triangular shaped.



In the second picture to the right,
one adrenal gland is pictured with
more detail to depict both parts that
make up the one gland.



In addition to the adrenaline, another hormone very similar to it is also released from the adrenal glands. Nonadrenaline accounts for 20% of the total hormone secreted from the adrenal glands while, the more dominant hormone, adrenaline, accounts for 80% of the secreted hormones. Together these hormones work to try to prepare the body to make it more alert and ready for when extra energy and exertion is needed.

Once adrenaline and nonadrenaline are released from the adrenal glands and are working their way through your body several things will occur. The adrenaline is in charge of making some of the smaller blood vessels close up while it makes the blood vessels in the liver and the skeletal muscles wider. By making the less important blood vessels smaller, and opening up the more important blood vessels, a better blood flow is created. With this better blood flow towards the skeletal muscles and liver, the muscles and liver will be able to function to their highest ability do to the increase in oxygen that they are receiving. Adrenaline is also responsible for the collapse of glycogen to glucose. This chemical change occurs in the liver and with this happening, the sugar level in the blood increases. The nonadrenaline, like adrenaline, constricts blood vessels too. The difference between the two is that the nonadrenaline constricts almost all the blood vessels while the adrenaline only constricts the less important ones. The two hormones work together to increase the contractions of the heart, which creates a better and stronger blood flow. Another duty in which these two hormones team up to do is increasing the amounts of flowing free fatty acids. With these acids just moving free throughout the body, the body can use them anytime it needs to.



First and second pictures from EndocrineWeb.com
Compound structures from EB.com