Can The 'Sleep Hormone' Melatonin Really Beat The Clock To Ward Off Insomnia, Jet Lag And Even The Effects Of Ageing?

**Health Confidential seeks out the truth behind the seemingly 'miraculous' benefits being attributed to supplementation with melatonin, to see if they hold any weight or are simply designed to get you to part with your cash**

If you suffer from insomnia you'll be only too aware of just how frustrating it can be to lie awake for hours on end. The endless clock watching and desperation to fall asleep combined feelings of exhaustion and irritability the next day can soon drive you to despair.

No wonder then that so many people are drawn to the promises being made for melatonin on the internet. A natural remedy to end insomnia and finally guarantee a decent night's sleep sound almost too good to be true. Especially when you consider, according to Drs Victor Herbert and Ruth Kava in their book The Miracle of Melatonin, that it can 'supposedly' help combat jet lag, ageing, immune disorders, impotence and even cancer too!

However, scientific research and a series of health scares suggest that melatonin is not all it's cracked up to be. With reports of hallucinations and suicidal depression linked to its use.

Health Confidential has researched this matter in-depth so you assess the risks as well as the benefits of taking this so-called 'sleep hormone'. As always we've also provided you with alternative ways to safely achieve a good night's sleep.

*Melatonin may have nothing to do with sleep disorders as previously believed*
*Used as a sleeping pill Melatonin is often ineffective*

Melatonin is naturally produced by your brain's pineal gland. At night its secretion from this tiny gland increases tenfold which signals to your body that it is time for sleep. It is for this reason that some experts believe it can effectively cure insomnia, especially age-related insomnia.

This is largely based on small-scale studies conducted over the last 20 years, which found the hormone peaks around the time of puberty and decreases with age. A finding which led some scientists to conclude that it is responsible for disturbed sleep problems in the elderly.

However, in 1999 the American Journal of Medicine published the results of a study conducted by Dr Charles Czeisler of Brigham and Woman's Hospital, which disputed these earlier findings. The study found identical levels of melatonin in healthy elderly people and the young.

It also revealed a range of contributory factors that can cause melatonin levels to drop, which had not been explored in earlier research that had simply attributed low levels to ageing. These factors included taking medication, like aspirin, ibuprofen or beta blockers; exposure to environmental factors like noise and light pollution from televisions and radios; as well as caffeine and tobacco use. This suggests that, contrary to accepted wisdom, melatonin levels do not account for the often disrupted sleep patterns in the elderly. More worryingly, it also implies that the hormone maybe being widely misused when taken as a supplement to aid sleep.

*Banned in the UK after claims were deemed unfounded*

Melatonin was judged to be an unlicensed medicine in the UK in 1996, when it was banned from being sold over-the-counter. The Medicines Control Agency concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the medicinal claims the health food manufacturers were making for it.

UK medical authorities are adamant that melatonin should be regulated as a medicine, and for this reason it is only available on prescription in this country. According to Vathani Siva of the Borderline section to the Medicines Control Agency: "In humans melatonin is an endocrine hormone that we consider to have a physiological and significant pharmacological function, which means we must view it as a medicine". But because the efficacy of supplemental melatonin has not been confirmed, she says: "there exists inadequate evidence of efficacy to substantiate medicinal claims made for it".

Although by law doctors in the UK can prescribe melatonin, few do. The fact that there is little evidence to support its effectiveness has meant that no marketing authorisation has been granted by the government as yet. And since unlicensed medicines are not allowed to be advertised to doctors, it is still largely unrecognised in the medical field.

But despite worries over safety and efficacy its unregulated sale and use continues in this country through the internet from U.S. mail order companies. And many experts are concerned that it is being sold at unsafe dosages.
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*Melatonin is being sold over the internet at 10 times the recommended dose*

Studies have shown that high doses of melatonin can actually disrupt sleep and cause nightmares. In high-dose studies, trial participants experienced profound hangover effects and headaches the next morning, and it was also found that melatonin had an adverse effect on hormone release from the thyroid and sex glands in the body.

This is extremely worrying because melatonin sold commercially over the internet commonly consists of tablets exceeding 10 times the therapeutic dose.

Researchers studying melatonin's effect on sleep at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discovered that the optimum sleep-inducing dose is between 0.1 to 0.3mg which is a tenth of that supplied by a standard 3mg supplement.

Melatonin has also been linked to causing infertility, hypothermia, retinal damage, reduced sex drive in males, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even cancer. In addition there are fears about its ability to induce or deepen depression and cause hallucinations in susceptible individuals. It may also be dangerous for people with cardiovascular illness (Appendix II to Health Products for Seniors: Anti-Ageing Products)
What's more there have also been reports of decreased libido and enlarged breasts in men taking melatonin. This has led to claims for its pro-sexual action being retracted as a promotional gimmick by Dr William Regelson, who co-authored the book The Melatonin Miracle, originally responsible for creating its reputation to increase arousal throughout the US and on the internet.

*Some internet sites tout melatonin supplements which don't even contain traces of the hormone!*

Internet-based businesses claim that current protests over melatonin's safety and efficacy have been spurred by private commercial interests, who see it as a rival to their multi-billion dollar industry in pharmaceutical sleep aids like Valium.

Yet, regardless of its dubious medicinal efficacy, researchers at Massachusetts's Institute of Technology like Dr Richard Murton, have found that in a significant number of supplements sold over the internet melatonin is absent altogether!

The problem of side-effects and quality control issues aside, there is also a more disturbing side to internet sales. Dr Morton is shocked by the unsubstantiated and often fraudulent claims being made by many internet sites for anti-cancer, anti-aging and immune enhancement effects. He believes these claims: "far outstrip what we know about how it works, who should take it, and what doses people should take".

For instance Melatonin has been hailed as a powerful antioxidant against cancer and heart disease on the basis on just a handful of studies showing it to be a free-radical scavenger in rats. As far as Americans are concerned the internet hype has gone way ahead of the data and made melatonin into a panacea for all. The big mistake many consumers are making according to US Drs Victor Herbert and Ruth Kava is incorrectly concluding that because melatonin is naturally produced in the body that supplemental use must be safe also.

*Melatonin may be useful for treating jet lag as it can adjust the biological rhythms in your body*

Despite melatonin's role in insomnia and other areas being doubtful, Dr. Josephine Arendt of Surrey, England, has shown that it does help people to fall asleep at night after they change time zones.

Dr Arendt believes that short-term use, under the supervision of a doctor, is safe for treating jet lag. She prescribes 5mg tablets of melatonin for no more than 7 days. She is quick to point out, however, that there is no data to show that melatonin is an effective treatment for insomnia in either the under or over 65's (The Journal of the American Medical Association; 1/1/1997).

Jet lag commonly affects travellers flying across several time zones, as it causes your body's internal rhythms to become out of sync with the day-night cycle at your destination. Melatonin is thought to help as by realigning your bodily rhythms.

This is backed up by a US State Department report, which states that melatonin's specific function is not to induce sleep, but to adjust biological rhythms by synchronizing our body clock to daylight hours (Dietary supplements: Industry sector analysis (isa) US & foreign commercial service and US Department of State, 1999).

5 Ways to beat insomnia without the risk:

Health Confidential strongly urges you to seek the advice of your doctor if you decide to take melatonin, and warns you to be extremely wary of unsubstantiated claims being made over the internet. Unless specifically recommended otherwise by your doctor it should not be used for anything other than jet lag (taken under medical supervision). Epileptics and those taking the drug Warfarin should not take melatonin.