Is adrenaline a coctail of hormones, rather than one hormone?
Although it has been called the "Fight or Flight Hormone" adrenaline
can be better described as 'Do it NOW!!! hormones." First things
first, notice the 's.' Adrenaline isn't just one thing, but a cocktail
of chemicals and hormones. For a more technical (but still a layman's)
explanation look at what Wikipedia has to say about adrenaline.
(quote source)
Hmm. Usually to my layman's eye the author seems to know what he's speaking about BUT this time I'm surprised. I always thought adrenaline was a name for a single specific hormone rather than "a coctail of chemicals and hormones". Even the Wikipedia page the author himself links to doesn't seem to treat adrenaline as a collective term for many hormones; on the contrary it gives adrenaline one particular chemical formula, C9H13NO3
Is there more than 1 substance that can legitimately be called adrenaline?
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Adrenaline = epinephrine. Different name, same chemical.
"Adrenergic receptors" is perhaps where things get more confusing. That is a family of hormone receptors (?1 ?2 ?1 ?2...) that respond to endogenous hormones including epinephrine and norepinephrine, and medications that are adrenergic agonists.
Colloquially, people might say "adrenaline" to encompass all stress hormones, which is suggested by the phrase "Do it NOW!!! hormones." Stress hormones are not limited to adrenaline (epinephrine) but include multiple families of hormones that are released in response to stress. I like the way this is phrased in a journal of endocrinology:
In response to stress, the level of various hormones changes.
Reactions to stress are associated with enhanced secretion of a number
of hormones including glucocorticoids, catecholamines, growth hormone
and prolactin, the effect of which is to increase mobilization of
energy sources and adapt the individual to its new circumstance.
Here's a simplified diagram of adrenergic receptors and activity. I say simplified because there are multiple other steps involved, and it includes many different actions of the chemicals.
E= epinephrine, NE= norepinephrine, DA = dopamine, etc
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