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05-27-2006, 01:43 PM
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Study on Melatonin
Claims, Benefits: Promotes sleep, counters jet lag, improves sex life, slows aging, etc.
Bottom Line: This human hormone may help promote sleep, but the evidence is still not definite. The other claims are unproven. No serious side effects have been reported, but long-term effects are unknown. Hormones are powerful substances and can produce unexpected results, so we don't recommend melatonin. Full Article, Wellness Letter, May 2000: Melatonin: Questions, Facts, Mysteries Look on any website selling supplements or in any health-food catalogue, and you'll find melatonin recommended for insomnia, jet lag, arthritis, stress, alcoholism, migraine, and the signs and symptoms of aging and menopause—along with assertions that it staves off heart disease and cancer. Some people recommend "melatonin replacement therapy" for all postmenopausal women. But now that scientific research is catching up with melatonin mania, you may want to proceed with caution. Melatonin is a human hormone produced deep in the brain by the pineal gland, dubbed "the seat of the soul" by philosophers in ages past. Discovered about 40 years ago, melatonin has been called the "darkness" hormone. Production rises at night, falls by day, and affects our internal body clock and sleep cycles. Melatonin has been assumed, logically enough, to have some use as a sleeping pill. Here are some questions, facts, and mysteries. Does melatonin production decline with age? The answer, until recently, was thought to be yes. But a new study at the Harvard Medical School of healthy people taking no medications or drugs found no differences in melatonin levels between the young and old. In earlier studies medications such as aspirin taken by older people may have suppressed melatonin levels. Melatonin levels may vary naturally in different groups; age does not seem to be the factor. Different people have different levels, and levels vary according to time of day. Bottom line: If your body already produces enough melatonin, taking additional doses may not be advisable. No one knows what the long-term effect might be. And it's difficult to determine what "enough" is. Is melatonin an effective sleeping pill? Most scientists agree that melatonin helps people fall asleep faster, but it may not help them stay asleep. Like benzodiazepines (such as Valium or Halcion), often prescribed as sleeping pills, melatonin can produce a "hangover" and drowsiness the next day. Long-term safety is still a question. It's true, as one researcher puts it, that "no catastrophes have been related to its use" (such as the outbreak of severe illness caused by a similar "natural" substance, tryptophan, once sold as a sleeping pill). Melatonin is being heavily marketed as a sleeping pill, particularly for older people, but nobody knows if the dosages listed on labels are accurate or if the products are pure. Good clinical trials have never been done on melatonin treatment for insomnia. Bottom line: If you need a sleeping pill, talk to your doctor. No known sleeping pill has proven safe and effective for more than short-term use. Does melatonin alleviate jet lag? Thousands take it for this purpose, but the benefits have never been clear. Various dosages of melatonin have been used in studies, making comparisons difficult. "Jet lag" itself is hard to measure. As reported recently in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a team of researchers devised a scale for measuring symptoms, and a group of Norwegian physicians flying between Oslo and New York were recruited as subjects. Melatonin showed no benefit against jet lag. If you're flying east, exposing yourself to sunlight the next morning is a pretty good treatment—most purveyors of melatonin suggest this, in addition to the pills. It's possible, though, that light is more effective than melatonin. You might be just as well off without the pills. Or maybe light works with the pills. Nobody knows. Bottom line: The jury is still out on melatonin and jet lag. Is melatonin replacement therapy justifiable for all postmenopausal women? No. Some researchers think low melatonin levels cause menopausal symptoms, but they may be wrong. HRT (hormone replacement therapy) has been studied much more extensively than melatonin, but no one recommends it for all postmenopausal women. Bottom line: Hormones are powerful substances that, even in small doses, can produce unexpected and unwanted results. Is melatonin an antioxidant, and thus a protector against aging and chronic diseases? A recent review of studies by researchers at Louisiana State University confirms that it is indeed a powerful antioxidant. But nobody knows what this means. Until we learn more, "the full potential benefits of melatonin must remain something of a mystery," these researchers concluded. Last words: If you are taking, or thinking of taking, melatonin, talk to a physician—and one who's not selling melatonin. Having your levels measured won't tell you anything, since levels vary from person to person and from hour to hour. Chronic use of melatonin supplements may suppress the body's own production of the hormone. Nobody knows what might happen if you have high natural levels and take a supplement on top of that. Melatonin can interact with other hormones, which is why, in part, pregnant women and children should never take it. Such drugs as aspirin, beta blockers, and tranquilizers can affect melatonin levels. Finally, nobody knows what dosages to take. Products are not standardized. Thus, you really don't know what you're swallowing. UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, May 2000 
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06-01-2006, 05:02 PM
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thanks for the info, been taking melatonin for about a month now, and i would say it certainly helps put you in a "deeper" sleep. but i guess i should research further at what cost? All info i had read on melatonin up until this post was positive!?
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06-01-2006, 05:19 PM
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haha how come.. these studies keep mentioning, the findings or results are uncleared.. lol wat the fuk did htey do?
__________________
Dog20 for BB4U troll. Vote Yes.
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06-01-2006, 05:29 PM
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It's like a study I found where a suppliment was causing lab rats to become depressed....... How the fcuk do they know if a rat's depressed!! 
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06-02-2006, 07:43 AM
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I don't use it very often anymore but last night I used it and I didn't like the type of sleep I got from it. It doesn't hit me for about a half hour or so and when it hits me, it hits me so hard it's so overwhelming. I know I'm trying to go to sleep but it scares me sometimes how sedative it is. I don't know....I guess it's just me. Then, for example, I fell asleep and woke up because I had to go to the bathroom, after I went back to bed, it took me a good 30 min. to go back to sleep. It felt like I had woken up just by going to the bathroom. One thing I've noticed w/ melatonin is that it's kind of like trying to catch the train. I've taken melatonin and gotten on the computer for a bit and when I go to lie down in bed....it never hits me. It's like I missed the time frame where it was supposed to start kicking in. I don't know if that makes sense. I think for melatonin to work properly (at least for me anyways!), you have to take it and not do anything to strenuous or active. Lately, when I've taken it, I lie down to watch some T.V. or talk on the fone until it starts hitting me. I know another thing I don't like about the melatonin is that unless I have 10 hours or more to devote to sleep, the next day I wake up with a hangover like the study mentioned. I guess that's how long it takes to wear off for me but either way, I hate taking something that's going to have me feeling the same way I would've in the morning if I wouldn't have taken it. I feel like not getting up either way cause I'm so groggy and tired in the morning but oh well. I deal. Quote:
 [quote=Cammo]It's like a study I found where a suppliment was causing lab rats to become depressed....... How the fcuk do they know if a rat's depressed!![quote] I don't know about rats but you can tell when some animals are depressed. I've been able to notice when a dog is depressed. Alot of dogs get depressed when their owner has passed away or animal friend has lived with them and died. Last edited by dannyboy9; 02-17-2007 at 02:03 PM.
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06-02-2006, 07:53 PM
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Yeah HOW ABOUT THEM HEAT BOY?
I don't know I talked to D Wade today and he said he might need me to go in for him but he's not sure. He had the flu for a bit that's why they been slacking but I brought him some chicken soup and chilled with him for a bit and he said he knows everything is gonna be alright. He just wants to beat them. Period. 
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06-02-2006, 09:13 PM
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I have always gotten good effects from melatonin. For me it would never hit me unless I either lay down to go to sleep, or I took more then 6mg. In the 6mg+ case it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I've never gotten the hang over either. And I have used it to sleep from times ranging from 6 hours to 12 hours and no grogginess. I will say one thing... I will give you some fvcked up dreams. 6mg gives me VERY vivid dreams and if it's not a fun dream it's not a fun night. I usually only use 3mg though, to reset my sleep cycle.
__________________
This user's post is made up of 100% fact, unless otherwise stated. Amount of truth, however, will vary.
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06-02-2006, 09:23 PM
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