Beyond helping us sleep: the many health benefits of melatonin

Dear healthy-minded readers,

Many times my patients tell me they have trouble sleeping, or they have trouble falling asleep, or they have trouble falling asleep. Not surprisingly, typically in the late 40s-50s, we began to be deficient in melatonin, a hormone that regulates our sleep patterns. As we get closer to 60, melatonin stores decrease even further.

However, as I explain to my patients, the good news about melatonin is that recent research has shown that it can do much more than help us fall asleep. It can protect against migraine, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. It can even help cancer patients live longer. Making sure your melatonin stores are sufficient is not only beneficial to your sleep, but also to your brain and immune system in general.

There are several ways to remedy a melatonin deficiency and get sleep and health back on the right track. First, let me explain more about the important role that melatonin plays in your sleep aid.

MELATONIN AND YOUR HEALTH

Melatonin is really one of the miracle hormones that the human body produces and it has multiple benefits. It is an important antioxidant that targets 2 of the most dangerous free radicals, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals that can cause health problems.

However, melatonin is perhaps best known for its ability to help us sleep and alleviate jet lag as it regulates the body's internal clock. However, melatonin does not stop there; It also has these other health benefits:

1. Neurological diseases: Alzheimer's patients are almost always low in melatonin. Supplementation with it helps the growing syndrome of agitation called "sunset" that can accompany Alzheimer's. It helps Parkinson's disease patients with movement and coordination, and helps them sleep less restlessly. It prevents brain damage and the fatal results of strokes.

2. Protection of the heart: Melatonin helps normalize cholesterol levels and lowers blood pressure.

3. Fights Cancer: Melatonin affects a number of cancers, metastases from the breast, liver, lung, prostate, and brain from other body-localized tumors. It also appears to counteract the toxic effects of chemotherapy, such as anemia, heart damage, mouth sores, and fatigue.

4. Psychological ally: Melatonin can help relieve stress and anxiety, both of which are aggravated by lack of sleep.

5. Increases sexual desire: The pineal gland produces melatonin, the same gland that regulates sex hormones. If your melatonin stores are low, chances are your sex hormones are too. Research has shown that melatonin supplementation restores interest in sex.

SYMPTOMS OF MELATONIN DEFICIENCY

Fixing a melatonin deficiency is pretty easy. How do you know if you are deficient in melatonin? Most people 50 and older will be deficient in some, or to a large extent, melatonin, just as we can become deficient in other hormones such as estrogen and testosterone as we age. Younger people are unlikely to be deficient in melatonin unless they have certain other health conditions that may announce the deficiency (see below) and its use.

The most common symptom of a melatonin deficiency is sleep disturbance, trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, light sleep, lack of sleep, fatigue during the day. However, some other signs and symptoms that may reveal a possible melatonin deficiency may also include:

Breast cancer
prostate cancer
PMS and other menstrual disorders
waterfalls
Hypertension
Heart rhythm disorders, heart attack.
Your doctor may do a melatonin test on your blood, urine, or saliva to determine your deficiency.