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Melatonin

Circadian rhythm disorders


Exogenous melatonin taken in the evening is, together with light therapy

upon awakening, the standard treatment for delayed sleep phase syndrome

(DSPS) and non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome. It appears to have some use

against other circadian rhythm sleep disorders as well, such as jet lag and

the problems of people who work rotating or night shifts. Melatonin reduces

sleep onset latency to a greater extent in people with DSPS than in people

with insomnia.[17]


Taken 30 to 90 minutes before bedtime, melatonin supplementation acts as a

mild hypnotic. It causes melatonin levels in the blood to rise earlier than

the brain's own production accomplishes. This usage is now common in sleep

and relaxation drinks.[18]


A very small dose taken several hours before bedtime in accordance with the

phase response curve for melatonin in humans (PRC) doesn't cause sleepiness

but, acting as a chronobiotic (affecting aspects of biological time

structure),[19] advances the phase slightly and is additive to the effect

of using light therapy upon awakening. Light therapy may advance the phase

about one to two-and-a-half hours and a small oral dose of melatonin, timed

correctly some hours before bedtime, can add about 30 minutes to the

advance achieved with light therapy.[20]


The World Health Organization in 2007 named late night shift work as a

probable cancer-causing agent.[21] Melatonin is an anti-oxidant and

suppressant of tumor development that is produced at night; when someone

works in artificial light, they generally have lower melatonin and may be

more likely to develop cancer. Melatonin supplements may simulate the

melatonin production at different times that does not occur during regular

sleeping hours for people who work night shifts.