Word: melatonin
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That's why there's so much interest in a study in the current issue of the journal Sleep. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School set out to test melatonin's effects and found that the supplements can indeed be a potent sleep aid--but only during daylight hours...
...melatonin supplements really help people sleep? Millions of jet-lagged and sleep-deprived Americans--citing countless self-help articles--insist they do. But the scientific evidence has been slim. There's no question that the hormone helps the brain tell a.m. from p.m.--regulating sleep cycles and circadian timing--when it is produced naturally by the body at night. What was lacking was clear evidence that taking melatonin in supplement form had the same sleep-inducing effect...
...HOPE FOR INSOMNIACS The sleepless will soon have a new weapon to use in their nightly battle against insomnia. The drug, available next month under the brand name Rozerem, is related to the hormone melatonin, and will be the first FDA-approved prescription sleep aid not listed as a controlled substance...
...might, according to an article in the current issue of Brain, Behavior and Immunity. Stanford University's Dr. David Spiegel and his colleagues point to studies showing that shift workers have higher rates of breast cancer than women who sleep normal hours. Two possible culprits are the hormones melatonin and cortisol. Melatonin is an antioxidant that mops up damaging free radicals, but the body produces less of it when sleep cycles are disrupted. Cortisol, which helps regulate the immune system, may also be compromised by troubled sleep. Says Spiegel: "Cancer might be something to lose sleep over...
...least three times a month for 15 years were 35% more likely to develop colon cancer than those who worked only days. Authors of the study, published last week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, think the increased risk may be linked to lowered levels of melatonin, which usually reaches peak production in the body in the middle of the night; nighttime exposure to light can dramatically reduce that production. The hormone is believed to have anticancer properties, but researchers say more study is needed before a link can be confirmed. --By Sora Song