Melatonin: what is it and why is it used in sleep disorders?

Melatonin: what is it and why is it used in sleep disorders?

Raise your hand if you have experienced the famous jet-lag! Those who travel a lot will surely know what we are talking about: when you take long trips and change time zones, it is very easy to incur symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, headaches…

Why does this happen?

This occurs because the normal circadian rhythm is altered, and our body struggles to quickly adapt and “synchronize” its biological clock and physiological functions with the new light/dark period in the destination country. Those sound like really annoying symptoms, don’t they? And even those of you who have never experienced the feeling of jet lag, surely you have heard of (or experienced on your skin!) one of the many variable sleep disorders… Well, yes, if you have had experience with them you probably already know the key topic of our article today: let’s talk about MELATONIN! Sleep disorders are in fact very often caused precisely by an imbalance in melatonin secretion. Let’s take a look together at what melatonin is, how it acts in our bodies and what its role is in major sleep disorders!

What is Melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone that is produced in the absence of light predominantly in the pineal gland, which is a gland located at the base of our brain. The essential function of this hormone is to regulate the sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin production follows a circadian rhythm, that is, a rhythm characterized by a period of about 24 hours. In healthy adults, serum melatonin levels are low during the day and high during the night: when darkness comes, in fact, its concentrations in the blood rise rapidly and reach their highest levels between 2 and 4 a.m., then gradually decline as morning approaches. In contrast, exposure to light inhibits melatonin production to a dose-dependent extent. In addition to endogenous production, this hormone can also be taken in through food: for example, we find it in milk and most fruits and vegetables.

When and why is it useful to supplement melatonin?

We have seen what melatonin is and how it is produced throughout the day. This gives us an insight into why melatonin can be of great help with sleep disorders!

What are those situations for which it may be useful to take melatonin in supplement form?

Melatonin, as mentioned above, is particularly indicated in the presence of sleep-wake rhythm disorders. Among the most common sleep disorders, the following can certainly be recognized:

• Tendency to fall asleep too late or too early;
• difficulty getting to sleep;
• disturbed sleep and numerous nocturnal awakenings;
• Problems associated with rapid time zone changes;
• shifts that can force people to work at night and sleep during the day.

All these situations can result from an alteration of the internal biological clock. What does this mean? In practice, in order to maintain the health and balance of our bodies, it is very important to adapt our body’s rhythms to those of the external environment, and thus synchronize our main biological activities with the natural light-dark alternation. If this balance is altered, it is possible to run into some of the problems we highlighted earlier: and it is in all these cases that melatonin supplementation can come to our aid! In fact, sleep induction and improved night rest result from the regularization of biological rhythms and in particular the readjustment of the sleep-wake cycle, which is induced precisely by melatonin! Among the positive effects, it also appears that melatonin resynchronizes the neuroendocrine and immune systems, helping to maintain their physiological efficiency. Melatonin also acts on the synthesis of several neurotransmitters, consequently affecting mood. Recent studies have also attributed melatonin with antioxidant properties, and thus able to counteract the action of free radicals, which are responsible for cellular aging.

At what dosage do you use it?

As a supplement, melatonin can be found in the form of tablets, capsules, syrups, drops, or even herbal teas! The allowable dosage as a supplement is 1 mg per day. For higher dosages, however, there is medication, and it will be in the latter case that the doctor will recommend taking it.

To conclude

Do you understand how melatonin works? With its help, it will be easier to cope with some sleep disorders and major symptoms of the dreaded jet lag!