the.com/adrenaline
Your body's built-in panic button, injected straight into the bloodstream.
means A hormone your adrenal glands release in moments of fear, excitement, or stress that speeds your heart, sharpens your focus, and readies your muscles for fight or flight.
from Coined from Latin ad- ('toward') plus renal/ren ('kidney'), since the adrenal glands sit right on top of the kidneys. The name was given around the turn of the 20th century when chemists isolated the hormone from those glands — Jokichi Takahashi and others raced to purify and name it, and a parallel brand name, Adrenalin, was trademarked in the US, which is why Americans often say 'epinephrine' instead to avoid the trademark, while 'adrenaline' stuck as the everyday word elsewhere.
- also a drug
- Epinephrine is the same molecule, different name
- discovered
- Isolated in 1901 by chemist Jokichi Takamine
- speed
- Can hit the bloodstream within seconds of fear
- used medically
- Treats anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest, not just thrills