Melatonin: Your Body's Natural Sleep Hormone

Like most people, you may take the functions of your body for granted — until something goes wrong. So you might not appreciate that every night you fall asleep, enjoy a sound sleep, and wake up in the morning feeling refreshed, you owe a big "thank you" to your pineal gland, which secretes the "sleep" hormone melatonin to ensure a healthy sleep cycle.

Melatonin is released by your body in rhythm with the light/dark cycle. Your body normally produces more melatonin at night, in response to darkness, to induce relaxation and sleep. During the morning and daylight hours, your body cuts back on melatonin production dramatically, allowing you to awaken and remain alert and active during the day.

When this healthy pattern is disrupted, many types of sleep problems can result.

People who have a condition called "delayed sleep phase syndrome" cannot get to sleep until very late at night or early in the morning. To catch up for "lost time," they often end up sleeping through much of the day. Studies show that these people often have a delayed cycle of melatonin secretion. Melatonin levels may not rise high enough and/or early enough to induce sleep. Or levels may not fall until too late in the morning. With the proper treatment, people with delayed sleep phase syndrome caused by melatonin imbalances are often able to adjust their sleep cycles to coincide with the normal time period.

Besides ensuring the healthy timing of your sleep cycle, melatonin also helps induce sleepiness and increase sleep duration. This is important for people who can't fall asleep or are not able to sleep long enough to feel rested. As people age, the body's melatonin secretion rhythm can gradually get thrown off balance, causing earlier morning awakening and more fragmented and shallow sleep. And melatonin is important for young children too. One study found that melatonin therapy helped improve symptoms in over 80% of children with various sleep disorders.

Research indicates that imbalances of melatonin play an important role in jet lag. Ensuring optimal amounts has been shown to effectively prevent jet lag in flight attendants and pilots flying on overseas flights.

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References:

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3. Dollins AB, Zhdanova IV, Wurtman RJ, Lynch HJ, Deng MH. Effect of inducing nocturnal serum melatonin concentrations in daytime on sleep, mood, body temperature, and performance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1994;91:1824-1828.
4. Haimov I, Lavie P, Laudon M, Herer P, Igder C, Zisapel N. Melatonin replacement therapy of elderly insomniacs. Sleep 1995;18:598-603.
5. Jan EJ, O'Donnell ME. Use of melatonin in the treatment of paediatric sleep disorders. J Pineal Res 1996;21(4):193-9.
6. Sloan EP, Flint AJ, Reinish L, Shapiro CM. Circadian psychiatric disorders in the elderly. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1996;9:164-170.
7. Petrie K, Dawson AG, Thompson L, Brook R. A double-blind trial of melatonin as a treatment for jet lag in international cabin crew. Biol Psychiatry 1993;33: 526-530.

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