As there are several types of beta receptor, there are also several types of beta blocker to act on them. Making the inefficient heart work harder can be dangerous so, to block this response, scientists developed a type of drug called beta blockers. We also know that there are specific sites on the cells of major organs, including the heart, called beta receptors, which respond to the adrenaline when it is released, by increasing the heart rate. However, thanks to medical research, we now know that adrenaline, in these circumstances, actually causes further damage. We know that the body releases adrenaline to try to make the inefficient heart work harder, and cardiologists had thought that this would protect the damaged heart. We know that there are specific sites on the cells of major organs, including the heart, which respond to adrenaline by increasing the heart rate This is usually as a result of a heart attack and it means that the heart doesn’t work as efficiently. More than 570,000 people in the UK live with a condition called chronic heart failure, which is when the heart muscle is permanently damaged. Most of the time, the release of adrenaline is protective – or at least harmless – but this is not always the case. While the majority of us are lucky enough not to have experienced an earthquake, we will all have felt an adrenaline rush during moments of great anger or excitement at some point in our lives. This is known as the ‘fight or flight’ response, where the body experiences a rapid increase in energy in extreme situations. When a sudden disaster such as an earthquake strikes, there are often reports of parents somehow rescuing their children by lifting heavy objects that, under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have been able to budge. Have you heard of people showing almost superhuman powers to combat or flee a dangerous situation? Judy O’Sullivan talks to Professor Sian Harding about her BHF-funded research looking at the complex effects of adrenaline on the heart, particularly in a rare condition known as 'broken heart syndrome'.

Too much epinephrine disorders