| Study bolsters melatonin sleep claims
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2000-10-12 08:59:00 CNN
BOSTON,
Massachusetts (CNN) -- A new study is lending credence to the popular
claim that the hormonal supplement melatonin can help regulate sleep
patterns.
Scientists
at Oregon Health Sciences University tested the supplement on a small
group of blind people. The blind often suffer from sleep disorders
because they cannot perceive the daily cycles of light and dark that
regulate the body's biological clock.
The
researchers found that nearly all of the subjects developed normal
sleep patterns after taking melatonin. When given a placebo, their
sleep remained erratic. The results were reported in this week's New
England Journal of Medicine.
Study
participant Clifton Zang was among those who benefited from the
melatonin.
"I
was having a hard time staying awake during class time," he
said. "I'd get up in the middle of the night and then I'd
study."
When
he took melatonin at around 8 p.m., though, Zang found he was able to
get a good night's sleep.
"I
got about six and a half hours of sleep and I felt good," he
said. "I'm wide awake and ready to go."
The
study authors say melatonin could also help people who aren't blind
regulate their sleep.
More
than 20 million Americans already use it for that purpose, hoping to
treat insomnia or jet lag, or lessen the effects of shift work. The
supplement is readily available over the counter at health food
stores.
But
the study authors caution that knowing how much melatonin to take and
when to take it are critical to reaping its benefits.
"The
concern I have," said researcher Dr. Al Lewy, "is that
people have been taking melatonin at the wrong time at the wrong dose
for the wrong reasons."
Experts
say the best time of day to take melatonin and how much to take
depends on the specific sleep disorder. Taking too much at the wrong
time could worsen sleep problems instead of helping them.
In
the study, patients started out on high doses, then switched to a low
maintenance dose once their body clocks had adjusted.
Doctors
have long known that melatonin is involved in regulating the body
clock. It is a naturally occurring hormone whose levels rise at night
and fall during the day.
However,
"the hype and claims of the so-called miraculous powers of
melatonin several years ago did a great disservice to a scientific
field of real importance," Josephine Arendt of the University of
Surrey wrote in an editorial accompanying the NEJM study.
This
new research, she said, shows "the true potential of melatonin"
and how important timing is to treatment.
"Our
24-hour society, with its chaotic time cures and lack of natural
light, may yet reap substantial benefits, " she said.
CNN
Medical Correspondent Elizabeth
Cohen
and Reuters
contributed to this report.
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