You're right. Sometimes people can demonstrate incredible strength. Let's see what Pierre Kerr, ac210@freenet.carleton.ca, can find out about it.

I happen to know that these feats of strength are due to a chemical in our bodies called adrenaline. I looked this up in the Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia and found this under reflexes.

"When we are angry or afraid, the nervous system reacts by triggering a portion of the adrenal glands to send adrenaline coursing through the blood. Adrenaline, a hormone, stimulates the body mechanisms that help us take emergency action."

Also, I found this under the section on hormones.

"The adrenal medulla produces two phenolic hormones-epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). Epinephrine, an "emergency" hormone, triggers the body responses needed when a person experiences fear, shock, cold, or fatigue. Both hormones raise blood pressure and heartbeat. Under their influence, glycogen in the body is converted to glucose for additional energy."

I'll try to explain this without the big words. Our bodies have something called reflexes. An example is when there is a loud, unexpected BANG, our eyes blink. In our bodies is a part called the adrenal medulla. This is a small gland that sits on top of your kidneys. Under certain circumstances such as fear or excitement, this gland produces adrenaline which enters our blood stream.

Adrenaline gives you a bit of a burst of energy. This is what can give you unusual strength to save a life from a burning car. It can also help you score that game winning goal in a soccer game.

Thanks for your question Sean.

Answer #% % filename Document2 page% % page 1 of% % numpages 1 % % date \@ "MMMM d, yyyy"March 24, 1995

€ or puts you in turbo-power mode.