Lerner(1960) first isolated a hormone in the pineal gland. Mela was given its initials because of its ability to cause melanin (melanin) cells to glow. And since it derives from 5-serotonin, the suffix tonin is chosen; therefore, the pineal hormone is termed Melatonin. Melatonin is present in minimal amounts in the body at pg(1×10-12 g) levels. In recent years, the biological function of melatonin, especially its health care function as a dietary supplement, has been extensively studied at home and abroad, showing that melatonin has many physiological functions, such as promoting sleep, regulating jet lag, anti-aging, regulating immunity and anti-tumor.
Other aspects
It has also been reported that the retina and accessory lacrimal glands of mammals produce small amounts of melatonin. Melatonin is also synthesized in the eyes, brains, and skin of some warming animals, such as frogs, and in certain algae. The molecular formula of melatonin is C13N2H16O2, molecular weight is 232.27, melting point is 116℃ ~ 118℃, chemical name is N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine.
Melatonin is not suitable for people
Melatonin does have some beneficial effects on sleep and immune regulation, but it\’s not for everyone, and it can backfire if taken in the wrong way. The following people should be cautious about taking melatonin.
- Minors
- Women during pregnancy
- Patients with heart and brain diseases,
- Liver and kidney dysfunction
- People with alcohol allergies.
- People with depression.
Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the brain’s pineal gland (which is primarily converted from tryptophan in food) and has the effect of regulating the physiological clock and helping you sleep, so it is often referred to as a sleep hormone.
If you think that melatonin can improve sleep quality, that’s too look down upon it, according to numerous studies, melatonin is the body of the potent antioxidants, antioxidant effect is several times as much vitamin C, vitamin E, can remove harmful free radicals, and for a variety of disease prevention and the improvement (such as cardiovascular disease, alzheimer’s disease, migraine, gerd, etc.).
The P.S. pineal gland is a small endocrine organ located between the left and right brains. Although located deep in the brain, it senses light stimulation from the outside world (known as the third eye) and controls Melatonin production.
3. Reduced sedative use (for inpatients)
Sleep disturbance is an uncommon phenomenon (the main factors are noise, light, visits by medical staff, and medication) for acute and severe patients in hospitals. According to statistics, the incidence rate is as high as 70%, and it is the most severe source of pressure for patients during in-hospital treatment.
Sleep is an important activity for all organisms, responsible for repair, detoxification and growth, and animal studies have found that sleep deprivation not only affects energy storage, but also increases oxidative stress and inflammation.
A double-blind, controlled study of 82 critically ill patients found that melatonin use was associated with a reduction in sedative use and an improvement in other indicators such as pain, disturbance, anxiety, sleep status, and additional sedative use.
4. migraine
Migraine is a kind of nerve vasoconstriction disorder headache, when the attack like something in the brain beating feeling, severe even nausea, want to vomit, photophobia, visual disorders and other conditions.
Studies have linked lower levels of melatonin to migraines.Therefore, melatonin is seen as a potential treatment for preventing migraine attacks. In a clinical study of recurrent migraineurs, melatonin administration (3 mg 30 minutes before bedtime) was found to reduce the frequency, intensity, and duration of headache attacks.
Another study of children also found that melatonin prevented tension headaches and migraines in children, and in some cases reduced the frequency of attacks by up to 50 percent.
5. Cardiovascular disease
The occurrence of cardiovascular diseases can be said to be a comprehensive result of aging, vascular sclerosis and hypertension. The factors of aging, genetic inheritance and gender account for only about 30%, and the serious consequences and incidence rate can be reduced by at least 70% through the improvement of living habits.
Therefore, cardiovascular health mainly depends on self-care, such as more exercise, less salt, maintaining the ideal weight, less frying, giving up smoking and so on.Melatonin, on the other hand, has an excellent antioxidant effect, which can prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases by reducing lipid oxidation, LDL (low density cholesterol), and blood pressure (including systolic and diastolic blood pressure) (using a dose of 5mg before bed for 2 consecutive months).
6. Improve gastroesophageal reflux disease and heartburn
Many people experience similar symptoms of burning in the heart caused by reflux of the stomach and esophagus, such as an acid coming out of the throat after drinking coffee, eating sweets or eating a large meal, or chest heat, hiccups, nausea and chest pain.
These cases represent abnormal reflux of gastric contents (gastric acid and food) into the esophagus, causing damage to the esophageal mucosa. If not treated, it will not only cause difficulties in life, but also increase the incidence of esophageal cancer.
In a recent clinical study, it was found that taking 3mg of melatonin at night could reduce self-conscious symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and heart fire. Although slightly less effective than the drug OMEPRAZOLE (which inhibits gastric acid secretion), the combination of the two has additive effects.
A small trial of patients with stomach ulcers (those who tested positive for Helicobacter pylori) also found melatonin improved ulcers (all recovered), but only three of the seven in the drug group showed improvement.
Also, the Aspirin is a common anti-inflammatory drug used to relieve pain. However, the common side effect is the inflammation of the digestive tract and gastric mucosa, and the most serious one is gastric ulcer. Taking melatonin can protect the gastric mucosa and reduce the effect of gastric injury.
7. Good for Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease can be roughly divided into vascular type and Alzheimer’s disease type, and the proportion of the two is roughly half. Currently, medical science does not know the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, nor has effective drugs been developed to treat alzheimer’s disease. The only thing we can do is to reduce the risk factors to achieve early prevention effect.
At present, many studies have found that the melatonin concentration in older people is often half that in younger people, while the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease is highly correlated with melatonin. The low melatonin concentration in the body has been regarded as one of the early indicators to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Insomnia and sunset syndrome is also considered to be one of the symptoms of alzheimer’s disease in old age, and melatonin use has been shown in some studies to reverse or alter these symptoms, especially in the early stages of the disease.
Animal studies have also found that taking melatonin also reduces nerve cell damage in the brain caused by beta-amyloid accumulation, a major contributor to Alzheimer’s disease.
8.Ectopic dermatitis
Ectopic dermatitis is a common allergic disease (about 10% of adults and 30% of children have had this disease), also known as inflammatory eczema, patients often accompanied by allergic rhinitis, asthma symptoms. This disease mainly occurs in seasonal alternations, causing inflammation, peeling, dry itching, redness and other phenomena of the skin of the whole body, bringing patients with great physical and mental pressure, and in serious cases, they are afraid of contact with the outside world.
In a controlled study, atopic dermatitis was found to have a 20% improvement in symptoms (but not IgE immunoglobulin concentration) after taking melatonin, and to be more likely to fall asleep, with no adverse effects, most importantly.
Does Melatonin have side effects?
Melatonin is a kind of hormone. It is generally considered safe to use in small doses in the short term, but there is no rigorous experiment to prove its safety in the long term.
In a 6 month controlled trial (2mg dose in elderly insomniacs), there was no tolerance and no adverse effects (no statistically significant difference).
The other noted that the common side effects of melatonin included nausea (1.5%), headache (7.8%), dizziness (4%) and fatigue (20.33%), but no significant differences compared to placebo.
Safety Precautions:
You may have more lucid dreams, in which you are aware that you are dreaming during a dream.
It is not recommended for pregnant women, children, nursing mothers, and patients with liver and kidney dysfunction, because the safety is unknown.
Do not use melatonin if you have low blood pressure or are taking blood pressure medications. (Melatonin can lower blood pressure and may interfere with medication.)
Do not drive or operate a machine (will cause drowsiness and loss of concentration).
Animal studies have found that testicular and ovarian function may be affected, but more research is needed to confirm this.
Do not use it with birth control pills (which may increase melatonin levels and may exceed the normal safe level if taken in addition).
Do not use with anticoagulants, immunosuppressants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs, chemoradiotherapy drugs (may interfere with drug action).
Melatonin is one of our herbal extract product. Are you worried that you can’t find good Melatonin? From today onwards, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.
Shaanxi Rainwood Biotech is dedicated to herbal extract industry, In this field not only have rich experience, also have a good reputation. Its aim is to create a health care raw material brand that everyone can rest assured, to solve your choice of trouble!
