Adrenaline is a major player in the infamous PNAS (a very high-ranking scientific Journal) study published by Dutch researchers around Matthijs Kox and Peter Pickkers who investigated the immunological effects of the Wim Hof Method (Kox et al. 2014). But what exactly is this stuff, where does it come from and do you need plant cherry trees or drink copious amounts of whiskey to make it work for you?
Join us on this week’s full-length episode and find out more about this “Stoff” that literally kicks a*s!
Epiphany Corner
- Why adrenaline can actually be good for your immune system
- What happens when your body triggers a stress response
- Definitions of the autonomic, sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
- What connects whiskey, cherry blossoms, and the “unknown substance”
- Why Sports will light your torch and practically turn you into a human firefly
That should get you excited!
Show notes
- The Infamous PNAS Study: How to create an Adrenaline rush without doing anything crazy (1:16)
- Adrenaline by any other name (2:50)
- The discovery of the adrenal glands (3:45)
- Noradrenaline and the Sympathetic Nervous System (6:02)
- The Fight-or-Flight response (8:40)
- Blood pressure: specific responses in different parts of your body (8:14)
- Discovery of the adrenal glands and the “unknown substance” (11:42)
- Hormone or Neurotransmitter? (14:33)
- Team US vs. Team Japan (15:45)
- Cherry blossoms and the first “Biological Entrepreneur” (18:03)
- How Whiskey helps with synthesizing Adrenaline (18:44)
- John Jacob Abel revisited: the discovery of Noradrenaline (20:40)
- How catecholamines are synthesized in the body (21:27)
- How to get wealthy as a drug dealer (22:49)
- Medical uses for adrenaline (23:16)
- Auto…, para…, sympathetic?! (28:25)
- The “unknown substance”: unmasking chemical neurotransmission (31:54)
- A vindication for the Adrenaline junkies out there (35:10)
- “Pulp Fiction”: Nonmedical uses for adrenaline (36:08)
- Light your torch: adrenaline, sports, and fireflies (38:23)
- Short recap (41:35)
Want to take the plunge?
Liebe Dina,
lieber Matthias
klasse gemacht – bin begeistert! Ich liebe Wissen und dieser geschichtliche Abriss über Catecholamine ist hochkarätig und auch noch spannend – besser geht es nicht.
Hinter Eurem lockeren, spannenden Dialog steckt richtig Arbeit und Zeit … dafür Danke…
sooooo in english….puuh…
Hi Dina, hi Mathias
nicely done! Great work, exciting and high quality.
Background about Catecholamines…
Thank you for your efforts…
with kind regards
Dr. med. Marc Wittmann
Hi Dina, hi Mathias
it is really great idea to do these supportive lectures about issues linked with WHM. Actually, I like EBM and you do something similar by collecting small elements of the mosaic providing verbal evidences.
I enjoyed very much this lecture about adrenalin as well as first time I heard about autonomic conflict and crossadaptation phenomena.
Just keep on.
I am looking forwards to next episode.
Best Regards,
Jozef B
Great feedback, thanks!
Somewhere I think I’ve heard that the Wim Hof Method, in particular the breathing meditation of alternating between deep breathing and breath retention, was intended to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. But from this podcast I get the impression that adrenaline plays a key role and I find this a bit confusing, since adrenaline targets the sympathetic nervous system. I’d expect acetylcholine to play the key role in this process, since it targets the parasympathetic nervous system.