Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Melatonin Hormone

        

        Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. It helps regulate other hormones and maintains the body's circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is an internal 24-hour “clock” that plays a critical role in when we fall asleep and when we wake up. When it is dark, your body produces more melatonin; when it is light, the production of melatonin drops. Being exposed to bright lights in the evening or too little light during the day can disrupt the body’s normal melatonin cycles. For example, jet lag, shift work, and poor vision can disrupt melatonin cycles.



          Melatonin also helps control the timing and release of female reproductive hormones. It helps determine when a woman starts to menstruate, the frequency and duration of menstrual cycles, and when a woman stops menstruating (menopause).

          Some researchers also believe that melatonin levels may be related to aging. For example, young children have the highest levels of nighttime melatonin. Researchers believe these levels drop as we age. Some people think lower levels of melatonin may explain why some older adults have sleep problems and tend to go to bed and wake up earlier than when they were younger. However, newer research calls this theory into question.

          Melatonin has strong antioxidant effects. Preliminary evidence suggests that it may help strengthen the immune system.

          Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and free radical scavenger that helps 'cool down' excess inflammation. In fact, melatonin is so integral to the health of your immune system that a lack of it causes your thymus gland, a key component of your immune system, to shrink in size.
Because melatonin is a strong antioxidant and is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, it is thought to help protect against Alzheimer's disease as well as brain aging. 

         In one study, artificially aged mice treated with melatonin had reduced oxidative stress and markers of cerebral aging and neurodegeneration, indicating the melatonin offered both neuroprotective and anti-aging effects.

          In another study, researchers revealed that combining daily exercise with the daily intake of melatonin appeared to have a synergistic effect against brain deterioration in mice with Alzheimer's disease-associated mutations. Improvements in behavior, learning and memory were noted.

          Melatonin's immediate precursor is the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is a major player in regulating and giving a lift to your mood. And, like serotonin, melatonin plays important roles in your physical and mental health
          For the past 30 years, melatonin has been the subject of intensive research. A natural and therefore unpatentable substance, it remains controversial because drug companies won’t study it; without a patent, they don’t make the huge profits. Still, the word is out about melatonin, and it’s being used by millions of people who want to naturally improve their sleep quality or their general state of health.

Melatonin for Sleep Problems                         
Most of the research on this versatile hormone deals with its potential usefulness as a sleep aid. The National Institutes of Health has put millions of dollars towards sleep research involving melatonin. In one of the most recent studies on this subject, published in the October 2001 issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers found that only 0.3 mg of melatonin, taken a half-hour before bedtime, was enough to restore efficient sleep in people over age 50 with sleep disorders.

Melatonin, along with the use of bright light therapy, has also helped to shift sleep time in people with delayed or advanced sleep phase syndromes (DSPS or ASPS) [people who wake up very late or very early]. Taking melatonin at the desired bedtime and being exposed to bright light in the mornings has been shown to gradually shift the body’s internal clock to a more socially acceptable pattern.


Other Possible Benefits of Supplemental Melatonin
Supplemental melatonin has been used to treat and prevent anxiety, depression, and sleep problems related to autism. High-dose melatonin shows promise as a treatment for cancer and AIDS. Low doses have been shown to lengthen the lives of lab animals by as much as 30 percent. Some evidence exists that it could be helpful for those with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
When researchers set out to discover the highest safe dose of melatonin, they gave higher and higher doses to rats. They found that no dose was high enough to kill the animals. Humans have taken doses of up to 6,000 mg at a time without side effects aside from sleepiness the following day. However, since rats are nocturnal creatures, we can’t make too many assumptions about humans and melatonin based on rat studies, and I don’t advise taking high doses.

Melatonin vs. carcinogens. In research by melatonin expert Russel J. Reiter, animals were given a dose of a poison called safrole. Safrole does serious damage to the DNA of liver cells, predisposing them to cancer. When a tiny amount of melatonin was given as well, only 41 percent of the damage was seen compared to animals given no melatonin. With a larger dose, only one percent of the damage was seen. Other research by Dr. Reiter found that when supplemental melatonin was given to one group of animals exposed to normally lethal doses of radiation, only half the number of animals died compared to the group that didn’t get melatonin.
Dozens of studies showing melatonin’s anti-carcinogenic effects have been published. Melatonin appears to forestall cancer growth, and some studies in humans have shown that late-stage cancer patients benefit from high-dose (5 to 10 mg a day) melatonin. Mainstream scientists protest that it hasn’t been sufficiently studied as a cancer treatment, but I’d venture to say that it’s been studied as much as or more than a lot of the chemotherapy agents.

The antioxidant power of melatonin. Melatonin helps protect cells against free radical attack, on a par with vitamin E and glutathione. It stimulates production of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase.

Melatonin and zinc. Research has shown that when melatonin is supplemented in people with low levels of the mineral zinc, their zinc levels normalize. This has led some scientists to believe that the presence of melatonin in the GI tract may have something to do with efficient mineral absorption.

Melatonin and depression. Melatonin levels have been found to be low in some forms of chronic depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depression), and in chronic schizophrenia. In people with seasonal depression—caused by short days and long nights—melatonin at night and bright light in the daytime has been shown to effectively improve symptoms.

Melatonin for headache. Studies have found that melatonin is low in migraine headache sufferers, and that administering melatonin during migraine attacks relieved pain and decreased headache recurrence.

Melatonin and immunity. Melatonin promotes the health of the thymusgland, an important component of the immune system that tends to deteriorate with age. Studies by Italian researchers show that melatonin supplements can improve immunity in the face of advancing age and stress.

Melatonin for autistic or developmentally disabled children.Kids with autism, Down syndrome or other developmental disabilities seem to benefit from melatonin supplementation. Many of these children have severe sleep problems, and regulating their sleep patterns helps them (and their parents!) to function better during the day.

Melatonin and intestinal health. Several studies have shown that melatonin supplementation helps to prevent the erosion of the intestinal walls that can happen with the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Melatonin and jet lag. Although studies on melatonin and jet lag have produced varying results, I know plenty of frequent travelers who swear by it, including myself. Simply take one milligram a half-hour before you go to bed in your new time zone.

The following doses have been studied in scientific research:

BY MOUTH:
·         For insomnia:
o    0.3-5 mg at bedtime is a typical dose.
o    In children with insomnia due to delayed sleep onset, melatonin 5 mg at 6:00 PM daily.
o    In children with developmental disorders (including cerebral palsy, autism, and intellectual disabilities), melatonin 5 mg at 8:00 PM daily. Both immediate-release and sustained-release preparations have been used.

·         For jet lag: 0.5-5 mg at bedtime is commonly taken on the arrival day at the destination, continuing for 2-5 days. Low doses of 0.5-3 mg are often used to avoid the hypnotic properties of the higher 4-5 mg doses.

·         For tardive dyskinesia (TD): 10 mg daily of a controlled-release formulation.

·         As treatment for solid tumors in combination with conventional therapy: 10-50 mg along with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or interleukin 2 (IL-2). Melatonin is typically started 7 days before the start of chemotherapy and continued throughout full treatment course.

·         For treatment of prostate cancer that has spread to other sites (metastatic cancer) and is resistant to triptorelin used alone: 20 mg taken daily has been used in combination with 3.75 mg of triptorelin injected into the muscle every 28 days.

·         For prevention and treatment of lowered clot-forming cells (thrombocytopenia) associated with cancer chemotherapy: 20 mg each evening.

·         For benzodiazepine withdrawal in elderly people with insomnia: 2 mg of controlled-release melatonin taken at bedtime for 6 weeks (the benzodiazepine dosage is reduced 50% during the second week, 75% during weeks 3 and 4, and stopped during weeks 5 and 6) and continued up to 6 months.

·         For prevention of cluster headache: an evening dose of 10 mg.

·         For reducing anxiety before surgery in adults: 0.05 mg/kg under the tongue.

·         For reducing nicotine withdrawal symptoms: 0.3 mg orally 3.5 hours after stopping smoking.


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1 comment:

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