The Importance of Melatonin…
It’s Not Just For Sleep Anymore

We all have heard about melatonin and its association with sleep, but this little hormone does a lot more and in today’s blog I break it all down! I spoke about sleep in last week’s blog, but I wanted to tie it all together for everyone today.

First we should start with where it comes from, and that is where the pineal gland in our brain comes into play. Research doesn’t know a lot about this little gland yet, but they do know that it responds to both light and darkness in our environment and it's highly vascularized (it has lots of blood vessels). The gland is activated through the retina in our eyes, and from there it will then release melatonin when we are in darker environments.

Now that we have a better understanding of where it comes from and we all know its most popular mechanism of action. I want to talk about the things that most don’t know about melatonin. I’m going to talk about things like how melatonin has an effect on puberty, how it facilitates our energy levels, how it acts as a glucose regulator and how it has an effect on diabetics. We’re going to discuss these things and a lot more interesting facts about melatonin!

Melatonin and puberty:

There is some thought that long term use of melatonin (OTC) can potentially have an impact on puberty in children. Before reading more, there are no long term studies done on children taking melatonin. The information that is out there are from case studies, meaning they are written after studying one person. Case studies are not effective enough to correlate or connect an issue to the general population. So with that said, these case studies so far have found that while it is considered safe for short term use, long term use may delay a child’s sexual development by potentially inhibiting a two hormones involved with puberty (called the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone and consequently the release of luteinizing hormone needed for reproductive development). This cause is still being studied.

Melatonin, energy and glucose:

I’ll start this portion with a summary from a medical doctor named Anna Aulinas, that studies and writes articles published in NCBI about various conditions surrounding endocrinology. Melatonin plays a role in both body weight regulation and energy metabolism. In a randomized control trial, (one of the top tier types of studies that are conducted in research) Dr. Aulina’s wrote that “administration of melatonin in post-menopausal women induced a reduction in fat mass and increase in lean mass compared to placebo”.

Melatonin and diabetes:

Low melatonin levels are reported in patients with insulin resistance diseases like diabetes,  including pre-diabetes (called metabolic syndrome). With type 2 diabetics the body either doesn't produce enough insulin or the cells involved become less effective at handling blood glucose. After reviewing some studies and literature, it is unclear if melatonin has a negative effect on diabetics, but if you have questions on long term use and are diabetic, it’s important to talk to your doctor. From there, they can provide you with the most up to date information regarding its safety.

Melatonin, antioxidants and cancer:

More research is needed, but evidence is leaning towards melatonin having some significant  antioxidant properties, by protecting lipids and proteins in DNA from free radicals. Free radicals are essentially rogue electrons that broke off from its original pairing.

A quick lesson about electrons, they group in pairs of two, and when one breaks off from its pair, it then becomes what we call a “free radical”. It is at this point where it is easier for this electron to escape its previously contained and protected areas of the cells they were in. After escaping they become exposed to radiation from our environment, where they then cause damage to the body by robbing other cells of their electrons, this leads to certain cancers and other health conditions. Antioxidants help stabilize the escaped electrons, by donating an electron to them so they’re paired again. Melatonin plays a big role with stabilizing free radicals due to its ability to donate electrons and remain stable itself.

I think that is where I’m going to end this blog about melatonin for today! This all ties into the blog I wrote last week on the importance of sleep and how chiropractic care can help facilitate proper sleep. Although this blog is not necessarily chiropractic related, it's still interesting and important information. It should be noted again, that it is always important to consult with your doctor about your health. With these blogs, I am providing a quick and interesting excerpt from studies and provide some fun facts about science! For more information please give North Portland Wellness Group in Portland a call.

References:

Aulinas A. Physiology of the Pineal Gland and Melatonin. [Updated 2019 Dec 10]. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Boyce A, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK550972/

Boafo, Addo, et al. “Could Long-Term Administration of Melatonin to Prepubertal Children Affect Timing of Puberty? A Clinician's Perspective.” Nature and Science of Sleep, Dove Medical Press, 31 Jan. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6362935/.

Garaulet, Marta et al. “Melatonin Effects on Glucose Metabolism: Time To Unlock the Controversy.” Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM vol. 31,3 (2020): 192-204. doi:10.1016/j.tem.2019.11.011