SUPERHUMAN WANNA BE

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“I believe there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.” –Spiderman 2 

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"Superhero" photo credit: Lehi-ut

When I was a child I dreamt of having super powers, such as, flying day and night like Peter Pan, casting magic spells like Harry Potter, having a temporal manipulation power like The Matrix and run as fast as the speed of light like Silver Surfer. I know in myself that this will only happen in my dreams, just in my dreams and never in real life :( until one day I found out that being a superhuman with supernatural strength can happen in reality! Thanks to the power of... find it out LATER :)

ACTIVATED SUPERHUMAN

"Man lifting a car" photocredit: Labspaces.net

Most of us have probably heard or experienced superhuman stories during crisis such as, a mom who lifted a car to save her child who wasn’t actually a body builder and a man who lifted a crashed helicopter to save his buddy and during fire a father would go beyond the burning house just to save his family, when chased by a dog you run so fast that you couldn’t imagine and after riding an extreme ride at the amusement park it makes you feel giddy.

Have you ever wondered how we transformed as a superhuman?

Well, behind this incredible and unnatural powers is the hysterical strength; it is caused by the hormone epinephrine, which is also known as adrenaline (where adrenaline rush came from).This hormone is a part of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which allows the body to rapidly respond to a situation.  Adrenaline is like a nitro burst into your car engine. It gives you hotter and faster combustion to give you more power and lots more speed.

Behind the Super strength

I consulted Bishop for the meaning of Epinephrine and according to him, it is a hormone and neurotransmitter that is secreted by the medulla of the adrenal glands. Epinephrine is secreted or triggered in certain situations, mostly in the state of excitement or stress, strong emotions such as fear or anger may also cause the body to release epinephrine into the bloodstream, which causes an increase in heart rate, muscle strength, blood pressure, and sugar metabolism.

"Epinephrine structure" photo credit: Wikipedia

Activation of Super Strength

"Stress response" photo credit: How stuff works

During a stressful or fearful or extreme situation such as, seeing your buddy pinned beneath a car or seeing a dog running after you--- the hypothalamus is activated. The hypothalamus regulates the body's homeostasis, or stable physiological balance. It's involved in body temperature regulation, certain metabolic processes and—in this case—the body's balance between stress and relaxation. The hypothalamus has a direct connection to the adrenal medulla, the center of the adrenal glands, which releases the hormone epinephrine. Secondly is your sympathetic nervous system—the so-called "fight or flight" response.

To fight or to flight?

The hypothalamus tells the sympathetic nervous system to kick off, the body speeds up, tenses up and becomes very alert. If there's a thief at your house, you're going to take action quickly. Then the sympathetic nervous system sends out impulses to glands and smooth muscles and tells the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine (adrenaline) into the bloodstream. This stress hormone causes changes in the body, including an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, dilates the pupils, and constricts arterioles in the skin and gastrointestinal tract.

 "fight or flight response" video credit: Youtube

Keeping Calm is Better

"Calm down" photo credit: wordpress

Did you ever wonder why do we only possess strength in short time when confronted with danger? Why don't we walk around in a constant heightened state of agitation? The answer is it would kill us. But how? 

It is like making your muscles big and strong takes deliberate and passionate training. Muscles strengthen over time through use, as in lifting weights and working it out. Our muscles may possess potential strength that can be tapped when faced with danger; this can also have dangerous effects. Muscles suddenly used beyond their limit can tear, and joints can be pulled out of their sockets.

Austrian physician Hans Selye studied the human reaction to stress and concluded there are three stages that make up what he termed general adaptation syndrome. The first stage is the alarm reaction (AR) stage which occurs when you encounter stress. This stage includes the arousal of your fight-or-flight response to a stressor. All of your internal alarms are activated and you prepare to face danger or run away. The next stage is the stage of resistance (SR). In the SR stage, the human response to danger is in full swing: Your pupils dilate, your heart rate and respiration go up and your muscles contract. At this point you are running for your life, lifting a car off another person or engaged in another above-average activity.

In the case of seeing a person pinned beneath a car, the stressor is short-lived. The body begins to relax and returns to its normal state after a few tense minutes. After the stressor is gone, the parasympathetic system kicks in. This system plays a role opposite of the sympathetic system. When the parasympathetic system takes over, heart rate slows again, breathing returns to normal, muscles relax and nonessential functions (like digestion) immediately begin again. The hypothalamus, which is responsible for triggering both the sympathetic response in the face of danger and the parasympathetic response after the danger has passed, is ultimately responsible for achieving a balance between both. This balance, the body's normal state, is called homeostasis.

When the body stays in an excited state for a prolonged period, it enters the final state of Selye's general adaptation syndrome -- the state of exhaustion (SE). This stage occurs when response to a stressor has gone on too long. In this state of hyperarousal, the body's immune system begins to wear down. As a result, a person will be more susceptible to infections and other illnesses as the body's defenses have been spent on dealing with a stressor. A person in a prolonged state of stress may easily catch a cold or have an increased chance of suffering a heart attack. The state of exhaustion stage is seen most frequently in cases of prolonged stress, such as workplace stress (Clarck, 2011).

AFTERMATH

photo credit: Google images

Most people are concerned of what will happen during an adrenalized moment, having been a number of life and death situations. According to MacYoung (2008), there are reactions experienced after adrenaline rush which are:

Nausea

Muscle pain

Hypomania

Exhaustion

Restless sleep

“We may not all have bodies like a superhero, but it's still nice to know that there's a little superhero in each of us.”-Blessy Contreras

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References:

Bishop, Michael, Fody, E. and Schoeff, L. (2009). Clinical Chemistry: Techniques, Principles, Correlations. 6^th Ed. 

Garbutt, A. (2013). What is Epinephrine(Adrenaline)?. News Medical.

Green, K. (2013). Epinephrine. Guidechem.com

King, Laura. (2008) The Science of Psychology. Student Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Layton, J. (2005). How Fear Works. How Stuff Works. 

Marshall, William J.(2004). Clinical Chemistry. Elsevier Health Sciences

URL

http://www.blog.canacad.ac.jp/bio/BiologyIBHL2/4802.html

http://www.entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/circus-arts/adrenaline-strength2.htm

http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/adrenal.htm#adrenalin

http://www.science.howstuffworks.com/life/fear2.htm

http://www.udel.edu/chem/C465/senior/fall00/Performance1/epinephrine.htm.html

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI3sVuH7rms