Question

Name the hormone which prepares our body for action to face emergencies like danger, fear, anger or excitement.

Answer 1

Our body consists of one pair of adrenal glands which is located at the anterior part of each kidney. The adrenal gland is made up of two types of tissues, the adrenal medulla is the centrally located tissue and the outside of the adrenal medulla present the adrenal cortex.

Complete answer:
The two types of hormones are secreted by the adrenal medulla and they are the adrenaline or epinephrine and the nor-adrenaline or norepinephrine. They are commonly known as catecholamines. The hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are the hormones that are secreted very rapidly to counter-attack the stress of any kind and during the emergencies and are known as emergency hormones or the hormones of the fight or the flight. Due to these hormones, the alertness, dilation of the pupil, raising of hairs, sweat, etc. increases. Both the hormones increase the heartbeat, the strength of heart contraction and the rate of the respiration.
The adrenal cortex is divided into three layers: zona reticularis is the inner layer, zona fasciculata is the middle layer and zona glomerulosa is the outer layer. The adrenal cortex secretes several hormones and is commonly known as corticoids. The corticoids which take part in the metabolism of carbohydrates are known as glucocorticoids. The corticoids which control the balance of water and electrolytes in our body are known as mineralocorticoids.

Note: The main glucocorticoids is cortisol while the main mineralocorticoids are aldosterone. The less production of hormones by the adrenal cortex affects the metabolism of carbohydrates which cause acute weakness and fatigue and leads to the disease known as Addison's disease.