Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland and also found in plants and microorganisms. Melatonin regulates sleep-wake cycles, other circadian and seasonal rhythms, and acts as an immune stimulator and cytoprotective. In addition, it has direct and indirect antioxidant properties that can counteract the harmful effects of reactive oxygen species and nitrogen in different systems. The results of studies using melatonin as a sleep enhancer and prevention of neurodegenerative disease progression are encouraging.
Can Melatonin Save Insomnia?
Melatonin supplements may help certain conditions, such as jet lag, delayed sleep-wake disorder, and some sleep disturbances in children. The people suitable for melatonin include shift workers who are on duty at night and sleep during the day; those who sleep later, such as those who stay up until the early morning or even dawn to fall asleep; those who need to travel for jet lag.
A meta-analysis (including 19 randomized placebo-controlled trials involving 1683 patients with primary insomnia) found that melatonin helped reduce latency before bedtime, increased total sleep time, and improved overall sleep quality. In addition, although melatonin is less effective in improving sleep disorders than insomnia drugs, it causes relatively few side effects.[1]
Can Melatonin Be Taken Long Term?
Although melatonin supplementation in the short term has a certain effect on regulating sleep, it is not recommended to take melatonin for a long time for ordinary insomniacs. Long-term use of melatonin may affect your health in the following ways:
- Affects the body's melatonin secretion
Long-term use of exogenous melatonin will cause the body to reduce the secretion of melatonin.
- Increase the burden on liver and kidney
Excessive use of melatonin for a long time will increase the burden on the liver and kidney, and may also cause adverse reactions such as headache, gastrointestinal reactions, depression, anxiety and mental symptoms.
Precautions
Interacts with certain drugs
Melatonin has an effect on certain diseases and drugs, so caution should be used when taking it. For example, do not use with anticoagulants, immunosuppressants, NSAIDs, chemoradiotherapy. It may interfere with the effect of drugs, so please confirm with your doctor before use.
Safety Issues for seniors, pregnant and lactating women
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine 2015 guidelines recommend against melatonin use in people with dementia. There is a lack of research on the safety of melatonin use in pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Related Research Information
Relieve surgery-related anxiety
According to a review of 27 randomized controlled trials involving 2319 patients undergoing any surgical procedure requiring the use of anesthesia, melatonin as a premedication (tablet or sublingual) may reduce the number of adults Preoperative anxiety (measured 50 to 120 minutes after dosing). [2]
Adjuvant COVID-19 treatment
Current research on the effects of melatonin on COVID-19 is only in its early stages. A single-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial indicated that adjunctive use of melatonin has the potential to improve clinical symptoms in COVID-19 patients and help patients return to baseline health more quickly. [3]
Beneficial for migraine
A network meta-analysis (NMA) comparing the efficacy of exogenous melatonin supplementation in patients with episodic migraine. The results showed that oral melatonin helped improve migraine attack frequency. [4]
Beneficial for children with autism
Melatonin appears to improve daytime behavior in people with autism with few side effects, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis. For children with autism, oral melatonin may bring positive help, but limited by the small sample size, more research is needed for further verification. [5]
References- Eduardo Ferracioli-Oda. (2013). "Meta-Analysis: Melatonin for the Treatment of Primary Sleep Disorders," PLoS One. 8(5), e63773.
- Bennedikte K Madsen. (2020). "Melatonin for preoperative and postoperative anxiety in adults," Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 12(12), CD009861.
- Gholamreza Farnoosh. (2022). "Efficacy of a Low Dose of Melatonin as an Adjunctive Therapy in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A Randomized, Double-blind Clinical Trial," Arch Med Res. 53(1), 79-85.
- Ping-Tao Tseng. (2020). "The association between melatonin and episodic migraine: A pilot network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to compare the prophylactic effects with exogenous melatonin supplementation and pharmacotherapy," J Pineal Res. 69(2), e12663.
- Daniel A Rossignol. (2011). "Melatonin in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis," Dev Med Child Neurol. 53(9), 783-792.
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Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
