Sleep
Medical Studies on Melatonin – Sleep
Modern science recognises more than 100 diseases related to sleep, because sleep disorders that are left undiagnosed or untreated can result in drastic consequences for health. Experts estimate that roughly one in ten suffers from some kind of sleep disorder. This proportion is even higher among older people, with around 60 to 70 per cent of people over the age of 65 suffering from sleep disorders to differing extents. A sleep disorder is defined as such if a person sleeps for less than six hours a night in three out of seven nights over a period of six months.
Sleep deprivation and its health consequences
Studies have been finding for years that people who sleep too little or have to sleep at the wrong times, for example, suffer from flu-like infections four times as often, as their immune system is weakened as a result of the sleep deprivation. People who have been working shifts for more than 10 years are at particular risk; the WHO (World Health Organisation) has classified night shift work as carcinogenic. The risk of breast cancer can increase by up to 65 per cent, while the risk of intestinal and prostate cancer also rises drastically.
Other effects
The likelihood of digestive system disorders, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, vascular diseases, and also cancer, dementia and obesity is also increased many times over. A lack of sleep can also result in impaired memory, lack of drive and mood swings. In the worst cases, this may result in hallucinations or depression.
Melatonin as a key hormone
The benefits of melatonin in regulating and optimising the sleep/wake cycle have long been proven. Especially as a chronotherapeutic drug, its value has been very successfully proven, providing support in mitigating the risk of one of the aforementioned diseases. And it has also been demonstrated that melatonin is highly tolerable over a longer period time, even at higher dosages. There is also no risk of addiction and/or dependency.
Medical Studies on Melatonin – Sleep
2025-01-17
Melatonin is the main hormone involved in the control of the sleep-wake cycle. It is easily synthesisable and can be
2025-01-17
Purpose of review: We present a review of research on the role of melatonin in the management of sleep and circadian
2025-01-17
Aims: Observational studies have shown that sleep pattern is associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), but whether sleep pattern is a
2025-01-17
Disruptions of circadian rhythms and sleep cycles are common among neurodegenerative diseases and can occur at multiple levels. Accumulating evidence
2025-01-15
Purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common serious sleep disorder. Melatonin-based drugs such as agomelatine may have beneficial effects on
2025-01-09
The importance of time is ever prevalent in our world, and disruptions to the normal light/dark and sleep/wake cycle have
2022-05-04
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by a complex and multifaceted neurobehavioral syndrome. In the last decades,
2021-02-11
The role of melatonin has been extensively investigated in pathophysiological conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Reduced melatonin secretion has
2021-01-20
We explored the sleep quality of patients who required mental health and clinical interventions in our hospital after being diagnosed
2020-11-03
The regular rise and fall of the sun resulted in the development of 24-h rhythms in virtually all organisms. In
2020-08-18
The magnitude of nocturnal melatonin suppression depends upon the spectrum, amount, and duration of light exposure. The functional relationship between
2020-04-21
Growing evidence shows a link between mood and chronotype. The majority of studies measure chronotype as a preference for morning/evening
2020-04-16
This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial tested the hypothesis that 20mg of melatonin before and during the first cycle of adjuvant
2020-04-13
From an evolutionary point of view, vitamin D and melatonin appeared very early and share functions related to defense mechanisms.
2020-03-21
Our study aimed to assess the impact of one night of slow-wave sleep (SWS) suppression on glucose tolerance, and explore
2020-03-19
The neuromodulator melatonin synchronizes circadian rhythms and related physiological functions via actions at two G protein-coupled receptors: MT1 and MT2.
2020-03-03
Pharmacological interventions for sleep (analgesic, sedative and hypnotic agents) can both disrupt and induce sleep and have many negative side
2020-02-15
Short sleep duration, recognized as a public health epidemic, is associated with adverse health conditions, yet little is known about
2020-02-11
Circadian rhythm plays an important role as our internal body's clock that synchronizes behavior and physiology according to the external
2020-02-02
Obesity is associated with increased general mortality and comorbidities, it is multifactorial and some evidence has shown that sleep duration