{"id":1193,"date":"2020-06-07T02:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T07:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2020-06-07T07:23:01","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T12:23:01","slug":"is-melatonin-safe-to-take-every-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=1193","title":{"rendered":"Is Melatonin Safe to Take Every Night?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Is Melatonin Safe to Take Every Night?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tAmericans aren\u2019t sleeping well. Roughly 80% of U.S. adults say they struggle to fall asleep at least one night a week, according to a recent Consumer Reports survey. And research has found that sleep problems are also on the rise among adolescents.<\/b><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tWhile the causes of America\u2019s sleep woes are up for debate, there\u2019s little disagreement about America\u2019s favorite remedy: Melatonin, by far the country\u2019s most-used sleep aid.

\n\nWhat is Melatonin?<\/b>
\n\nMelatonin is a hormone that plants and animals, including humans, produce naturally. The melatonin sold in over-the-counter pills is synthetic, but chemically it\u2019s the same as the stuff the human body makes. It can, if used properly, help certain problem sleepers get to bed at night.

\n\nMelatonin hormone secreted by pineal gland (red) at night, regulates body’s daily biological rhythm depending on luminosity as light regulates its secretion via a path involving the suprachiasmatic nucleus (green), the paraventricular nucleus (yellow) and the preganglionic sympathetic neurons.

\n\nMelatonin hormone secreted by pineal gland (red) at night, regulates body’s daily biological rhythm depending on luminosity as light regulates its secretion via a path involving the suprachiasmatic nucleus (green), the paraventricular nucleus (yellow) and the preganglionic sympathetic neurons. BSIP\/Universal Images Group via Getty\nResearch has also shown it can help combat inflammation, promote weight loss, and maybe even help children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

\n\n\ufeffThat\u2019s a lot to claim, though there are some studies to back up the various benefits. One 2011 review found evidence that, in children with autism, melatonin supplementation led to improved sleep and better daytime behavior. A small 2017 study from Poland found that obese adults who took a daily 10 mg melatonin supplement for 30 days while eating a reduced-calorie diet lost almost twice as much weight as a placebo group. The underlying cause might be connected to the fact that blood measures of oxidative damage and inflammation were much lower in the people who took melatonin.

\n\n\u201cSome of the emerging science is showing that in people with higher levels of inflammation\u2014which could be because they\u2019re obese, or because they\u2019re in the [intensive care unit] for a transplant\u2014melatonin in the range of 6 mg to 10 mg may decrease markers of inflammation,\u201d says Helen Burgess, a professor of psychiatry and co-director of the Sleep and Circadian Research Laboratory at the University of Michigan. If someone is healthy, it\u2019s not clear that high-dose melatonin has a similar anti-inflammation effect, she adds. But it\u2019s possible.\n

\nBurgess is one of the country\u2019s foremost melatonin researchers. She says that the traditional view of melatonin is that it plays a role in regulating the body\u2019s internal day-night clocks, which is why it can help people sleep. \u201cBut there\u2019s a theory that melatonin\u2019s original purpose was as an antioxidant, which is what it does in plants,\u201d she says. This alternative theory holds that it was only later in human evolution that melatonin took on a secondary role as a biological clock-setter.\n

\nInflammation, like poor sleep, is implicated in the development or progression of an array of diseases, from heart disease and diabetes to depression and dementia. If melatonin could safely promote both better sleep and lower rates of inflammation, it could be a potent preventative for a lot of those ills. And melatonin appears to be safe\u2014though there isn\u2019t much research on the long-term effects of taking it in heavy doses.

\n\nWhat is a safe melatonin dose?<\/b>
\n\nAccording to Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, \u201cmelatonin is very safe if taken in normal doses,\u201d which is anything between 0.5 mg and 5 mg.

\n\nA 0.5 mg dose may be all that\u2019s needed for sleep-cycle regulation, and should be taken three to five hours before bed, he says. For people who want to take melatonin just before bed, a 5 mg dose is appropriate. \u201cSome people report headaches or stomach problems at higher doses, but those side-effects are uncommon,\u201d he says.

\n\nStill, there are other concerns. \u201cMelatonin has an incredible safety record, no doubt about it,\u201d says Dr. Mark Moyad, the Jenkins\/Pomkempner director of preventive and alternative medicine at the University of Michigan. \u201cBut it\u2019s a hormone, and you don\u2019t want to mess around with hormones until you know what they\u2019re doing.\u201d

\n\nPeople with existing medical problems should discuss melatonin with their doctor before using it. While some research has found that melatonin may help treat hyperglycemia in people with diabetes, for example, other studies have shown that, in diabetes patients who carry certain genetic traits, melatonin may interfere with glucose regulation. It\u2019s these sorts of contradictory findings that give experts pause when it comes to issuing melatonin a full-throated endorsement.

\n\n\u201cMy advice is always to treat supplements like drugs, meaning don\u2019t take a pill unless you need a pill,\u201d Moyad says. He urges restraint with melatonin not because there\u2019s evidence it\u2019s dangerous, but because of the lack of evidence showing it\u2019s safe in high doses over long periods. Especially for parents who are giving melatonin to healthy children, Moyad says caution is warranted. Melatonin appears to be safe, and it could provide a range of health benefits. But there are a lot of unknowns.


\n\nContributor: Markham Heid – Time<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Melatonin Safe to Take Every Night? Americans aren<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1196,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}