Melatonin Side Effects

The Complete Guide To Melatonin

What is Melatonin? Melatonin, a natural mammalian hormone that helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body’s circadian rhythm, is secreted by the pineal gland. Melatonin plays an essential role in the circadian rhythm, which regulates our sleeping patterns. In addition, melatonin helps control the female’s reproductive hormones and the menstruation cycle.

Melatonin is often used to adjust the body’s internal clock. When the body’s internal circadian clock is not regulated, the outcome involves several negative effects on the body, influencing blood pressure, temperature, hormones, the sleep-wake cycle, immune funtion, and digestive activity. For those who may have a work schedule that inolves changing work shifts, or are experiencing jet lag, melatonin can help regulate the body’s internal clock with the external environment. It also induces sleepiness, slightly lowers the body’s temperature (which also disrupts tumor metabolism), and reduces blood pressure. In the absence of light, the pineal gland and the retina synthesizes melatonin which allows the individual to be active during the day, and then sleep well at night.

Melatonin is also a remarkable antioxidant, and is a key hormone produced by tissues throughout the body including the skin, gut, liver, kidney, white blood cells and receptors. Melatonin works to break down the active hormones in the body, which allows the body to rest, recuperate, and sleep. During sleep, melatonin will eliminate the free radicals and toxins in all of the body’s cells, cleaning out the harmful substances. By stimulating the healthy cell division and allowing self-repair throughout the body, the individual will wake up feeling more rejuventated. Melatonin is often found in nature and within some common foods.

What does Melatonin do? Some people experience relief from the following medical issues while taking melatonin. These individuals often have low levels of melatonin and these supplements can regulate the body’s internal clock.

• Insomnia – Melatonin should be taken for those who have irregular sleep patterns, such as those who do a lot of business traveling and experience jet leg, those who switch work shifts often, and some seniors who have low melatonin levels. Melatonin regulates the sleep-wake cycle and other circadian cycles. In cases of insomnia, it can induce sleep, increase REM sleep, and produce healthier sleep patterns.
• Menopause – Although melatonin does not relieve certain menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, it has a positive effect on women who experience sleep problems associated with menopause.
• Cancer – Melatonin is sometimes used to reduce effects of breast cancer, brain cancer, prostate cancer, and gastronintestinal cancer. It is also used to reduce the side effects of cancer treatment (chemotheraphy), including weight loss, nerve pain, and weakness. Not only can melatonin inhibit cancer cell growth (reducing the chance of tumor growth) and angiogenesis (anticancer), but it can also directly terminate many types of human tumor cells through apoptosis (anticancer). In order to decrease the breast and prostate cancer cell growth, melatonin reduces estrogen-binding activity and estrogen receptors.
• Antioxidants – Melatonin stimulates the production of endogenous antioxidants (superoxide dismutases, peroxidases, catalase, glutathione peroxidase), and increases effects of endogenous antioxidants (made by our bodies) and exogenous antioxidants (through anti-oxidant foods and suppplements, such as Vitamin A, C, and E). Melatonin can easily cross cellular membranes and shows evidence of DNA protecting activity.
• Furthermore, Melatonin has been used for Alzheimer’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause, osteoporosis, and ringing in the ears.

What dosage of Melatonin should be taken? The general dosage range of melatonin is from ½ to 5 mg. It is best if the individual starts with the lowest dose and increase if they feel necessary, with the guidance of a physician.

How does Melatonin work? Melatonin chemically induces sleepiness and lowers the body’s temperature by regulating the sleep-wake cycle. Normally, darkness causes the body to produce higher levels of melatonin, and light causes it to produce less levels of melatonin. With someone who is having a difficult time sleeping, they may have low levels of melatonin with darkness, when the body should be producing more. Low levels of melatonin can lead to many degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive dysfunction and clinical depression. The production of melatonin (which is triggered with darkness), is located in the eyes’ retinas and in the pineal gland within our brains. By stimulating the tissue specific receptors, it produces a shift of the circadian rhythm. At this point, the body will be able to regenerate and repair which is critical to maintain good health. While regulatint the circadian rhythem, other hormones are released, producing a flow of biochemical and physiological response.

Why is melatonin so important? Due to the fact that each individual spends about one third of their lives sleeping, it is essential that the body is on a regulated circadian pattern. It is during sleep where the body can partake in its regenerative process and regulate the functioning of the body at the cellular, tissue, and systemic level. When melatonin secretion is low and sleep is disturbed, the body will begin to degenerate in both structure and function. Furthermore, the body will experience an impaired repair and accelerated damage. Melatonin supplements can be very beneficial to the body by regulating the sleep patterns and avoiding numerous negative health issues.

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