Hollywood’s Elixir Of Youth: Fact Or Fiction?
You’ve probably heard the theory: elite liberals like the Obamas, the Clintons, George Soros, Tom Hanks, and many more are part of a sinister cabal that kidnaps children to harvest the youth-giving chemical adrenochrome from their bodies in order to sustain themselves. It’s pretty out-there, but lots of people buy into it. Perhaps you’re one of them? Well, the truth is that adrenochrome is real. It exists — just not in the way proponents of this conspiracy theory imagine. Let’s take a look at what the chemical actually is, and what the roots of the dangerous conspiracy surrounding it are.
A normal chemical compound
Despite the more fantastical claims one encounters about adrenochrome, the fact is that it’s just a normal chemical compound found in the body. It’s produced when the hormone adrenaline — also known as epinephrine — oxidizes. Oxidation is when “a substance comes into contact with oxygen or another oxidizing substance,” as the National Cancer Institute has explained.
Adrenaline is released when a person is faced with a stressful or exciting situation. The adrenal glands and other neurons within the central nervous system release the hormone, which prompts a fight-or-flight response.
The EpiPen
Scientists have known about adrenaline since 1901; it wasn't long after that that the hormone began to be used for medical purposes. Nowadays it’s synthesized in labs and used to treat a variety of conditions. If you know what an EpiPen is, you’ll be aware of this.
EpiPens are used, for example, when a person suffers a severe allergic reaction. The device administers adrenaline — or epinephrine, hence its name — which is used to help combat anaphylaxis, the fancy medical term for such adverse reactions.
A different story for adrenochrome
Adrenochrome, though, isn’t used to treat people for any conditions within the United States. As Dr. Ryan Marino, a medical toxicologist, physician, and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, pointed out in a conversation with How Stuff Works, there’s no reason to think it would work in the way adrenaline does.
“There’s no available evidence to show that adrenochrome has any of the same efficacy [as epinephrine],” he pointed out. “It has been studied, but from what I can tell it’s never been shown to work at least as well as epinephrine.”
Not approved for use
Without much in the way of evidence indicating that adrenochrome can help to treat medical conditions, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t ever approved it for use. Comparing it to adrenaline, Dr. Marino said, “Obviously, epinephrine would be the preferred and recommended agent between the two.”
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Having said that, it’s possible for biotech companies to buy synthetic adrenochrome within the United States; the catch is that they can only use it for research purposes. Some companies have done so in recent years, but the most prominent studies on adrenochrome took place decades ago.