| Melatonin |
| Melatonin |
Flavored Sublingual Melatonin because sublinguals dissolve under the tongue, they enter the bloodstream directly via the oral blood vessels, resulting in rapid delivery into the system.
Natural Peppermint
Melatonin Sublingual 2.5 mg (60 tablets)
Sale US$5.95 (Reg. US$9.95)
Melatonin as an effective sleep aid. Various studies of young and elderly adults indicate that in some people melatonin shortens the time needed to fall asleep and improves sleep quality by decreasing the number of times they awaken during the night. It may be beneficial when chronic pain or stress causes sleep disturbances. Melatonin can also help restore normal sleep patterns in people who do night shift work or in those suffering from jet lag as a result of crossing time zones. Moreover, it works without producing the addictive effects of conventional sleep medications.
A study of 52 airline employees showed melatonin to be a very effective remedy against jet lag, significantly shortening the normal one-week adjustment period. Other studies with more than 400 people determined that the hormone reduces symptoms of jet large by about 50%, on average, on both eastward and westward flights.
Preliminary studies at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland found tiny doses of melatonin may be effective for wintertime blues. Depressed patients who received several doses of 0.1 mg of melatonin in the afternoon showed significant mood improvements, compared with those who received no melatonin or a larger single dose in the morning. Scientists speculate small afternoon doses may better mimic the way melatonin is naturally released by the body, but caution against drawing conclusions until further studies are completed.
Melatonin May Help Blood Pressure, U.S. Study Finds
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Melatonin, a hormone known for helping to regulate the body's internal clock, may help lower high blood pressure, Dutch and U.S. researchers reported.
Supplements of the hormone, often used to help battle jet lag, reduced blood pressure in a small group of men who took them regularly, the researchers said.
"This finding might open the door for a new approach for treating hypertension," said Frank Scheer, a neuroscientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School (news - web sites) in Boston.
"It has been reported that people with high blood pressure often have suppressed nighttime melatonin levels," Scheer added in a statement. "We have recently found that people with high blood pressure have actual anatomical disturbances of their biological clocks."
Scheer's team, working with researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research in Amsterdam, gave melatonin supplements or placebos to 16 men with untreated high blood pressure an hour before they went to bed.
The men who got nightly melatonin supplements for three weeks lowered their nighttime systolic blood pressure -- the top number -- by about 6 millimeters of mercury on average and their diastolic reading -- the bottom number -- by 4 millimeters of mercury.
There was no change from taking a single dose of melatonin, the researchers report in the February issue of Hypertension, a journal published by the American Heart Association (news - web sites).
High blood pressure is common, affecting 50 million Americans. It is a leading cause of heart attack, stroke and heart failure.
Many different drugs, from diuretics to medications that relax the arteries, are used to treat it. But they have side effects ranging from a frequent need to urinate to impotence.
Melatonin could offer a gentler approach, Scheer said. As a side benefit, he said the men reported sleeping better when they took melatonin.
It could be that sleeping better helps improve blood pressure, Scheer, said, although he stressed much more study is needed.
Melatonin as powerful anti-aging antioxidant
Front Neuroendocrinol. 1995 Oct;16(4):383-415.
Functional pleiotropy of the neurohormone melatonin: antioxidant protection and neuroendocrine regulation. Reiter RJ.
Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio 78284-7762, USA.
Roughly 30 months ago it was discovered that melatonin is a highly efficient free radical scavenger and general antioxidant. This implied that melatonin, which is both lipophilic and hydrophilic, has effects not only in every cell but also within every subcellular compartment.
As an antioxidant, melatonin has been shown in vitro to be a highly efficient scavenger of the very reactive and toxic hydroxyl radical. Indeed, on an equimolar basis melatonin proved significantly more efficient in neutralizing the hydroxyl radical than did the two well-known scavengers, glutathione and mannitol. Likewise, melatonin was found to also scavenge the peroxyl radical which is generated during lipid peroxidation; in this regard it was roughly twice as effective as vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol).
The antioxidant activities of melatonin have been well documented in tissue homogenates and organisms as well. When rats are treated with the chemical carcinogen safrole, this agent induces the generation of free radicals which in turn extensively damage nuclear DNA; this damage is almost totally eliminated if the animals are cotreated with melatonin. Also, damage to DNA in human lymphocytes due to ionizing radiation, another treatment which is known to induce free radical formation, is greatly reduced if the cells are treated with melatonin prior to radiation. Cytosolic protein seems also to be protected from free radical damage when melatonin is present. When newborn rats are treated with a glutathione-depleting drug at birth, by 2 weeks of age the animals have cataracts. Cataracts form because oxidants damage protein in the presence of low intracellular levels of glutathione. Cataracts induced by this means are essentially prevented if the glutathione-depleted rats are supplemented with melatonin.
Finally, membrane lipid peroxidation, induced either in vivo or in vitro by any of several means, all of which involve free radicals, is drastically attenuated in the presence of melatonin. Considering melatonin's ability to cross all morphophysiological barriers and to enter every cell, and all subcellular compartments, the implication is that this indole may play a very important role in the antioxidative defense system of the organism. These findings potentially have important implications for a wide variety of age-related diseases and to aging itself.
Melatonin May Protect Brain After Stroke
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Melatonin, the hormone more commonly associated with jet lag and sleep cycles, may help protect the brain after a stroke, according to a new animal study.
Rats who received a dose of melatonin within two hours of a stroke experienced less tissue damage than rats who either received melatonin later or not at all.
Reducing tissue damage after a stroke can cut the overall amount of brain damage and help with recovery, study author Dr. Raymond Tak Fai Cheung said.
If these results apply to humans, melatonin could represent a new treatment for patients to protect the brain against stroke's potentially life-threatening effects, said Cheung, who is based at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong.
But Cheung cautioned that people should not believe that they are no longer in danger of stroke if they buy melatonin, which is commercially available.
Too many questions remained unanswered, he said, including how best to use the hormone against stroke in humans, and whether it even works in people. Many treatments that are successful in rats and mice never pan out for their human counterparts.
"Therefore, taking the usual oral dosage of melatonin may not affect (a person's) chance of having a stroke, nor the severity of the stroke, Cheung said.
Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland in the brain when the body is exposed to light.
Previous research has shown the hormone can promote sleep and help regulate the body clock. Because melatonin is believed to help regulate sleep patterns, supplements have been touted as a treatment for sleep problems and jet lag.
Recently, investigators have uncovered evidence that the hormone may also protect the brain from stroke.
To investigate further, Cheung and his colleagues blocked blood flow in an artery feeding the brain -- the most common cause of stroke -- for three hours in a group of rats.
In one experiment, the researchers injected the rats with a single dose of melatonin either immediately, one hour, or three hours later.
In another experiment, the researchers injected rats with multiple doses of the same amount of melatonin, with the first dose occurring within three hours of stroke onset, and additional doses 24 and 48 hours later.
In the first experiment, Cheung and his colleagues found that one dose of melatonin decreased the amount of brain tissue damaged by stroke when administered immediately or one hour after stroke, but not three hours later.
In the second experiment, the authors found that multiple melatonin injections helped reduce the amount of brain tissue damage after stroke, relative to rats that received injections that did not contain the hormone, but only when the first injection was administered within two hours.
Much of the damage inflicted by stroke results from an overproduction of free radicals, particles that can inflict serious tissue damage, Cheung explained.
Melatonin is a potent scavenger of free radicals, a role that largely explains the hormone's benefits in treating stroke, Cheung noted. "This is the main reason why melatonin protects the brain against stroke," he said.
The next step, Cheung noted, is to investigate whether melatonin safely works in humans, and if so, how it should be administered.
Funding for the current research was provided by the University of Hong Kong.
SOURCE: Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association (news - web sites) 2003;34:770-775.
Guidelines for use:
For insomnia: Stick to a precise schedule, taking melatonin supplements at the same time every evening. Begin with the lowest dose and increase it as needed.
For jet lag: Take melatonin on your day of travel, then before bedtime for the first 5 nights at your final destination.
For shift work: Take melatonin at your desired bedtime (at 8 A.M., for example) after working a night shift.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 tablet
Servings Per Container 60
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1 tablet contains Melatonin |
2.5 mg
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† |
Suggested Usage: One tablet at bedtime; one-half tablet may be sufficient for some people. Do not take more than two tablets daily unless recommended by your health care professional. Place tablet under the tongue. While it is slowly dissolving, alter its position so as to avoid prolonged contact with the same area.
Warning: USE ONLY AT BEDTIME. For adult use only. Not for use by children, teenagers, or pregnant or lactating women. If you are under medical supervision or have an autoimune disease, diabetes, a depressive disorder, a thyroid condition, epilepsy, leukemia, or a lymphoproliferative disorder, or are taking MAO inhibitor drugs or corticosteroids, such as cortisol or prednisone, consult your physician before taking this product.
The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Some comments from customers:
"Glad someone finally offers a sublingual melatonin without the added vitamin B6. Your product seems to induce a deeper sleep. I even seem to feel more well rested the next day after taking your product the night before". J.L. U.S.
Natural Peppermint
Melatonin Sublingual 2.5 mg (60 tablets)
Sale US$5.95 (Reg. US$9.95)
Some comments from customers
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