Melatonin
From hormone to over-the-counter supplement. By Wendi Kitsteiner
D
r. Lourdes DelRosso is passionate about helping people find good rest. She has a particular interest in restless sleep and restless legs syndrome. Along with her work in sleep medicine, Dr. DelRosso has often been asked to discuss melatonin and its role in helping provide healthier sleep. According to Dr. DelRosso, melatonin is a natural component of our circadian regulation— circadian referring to our natural inner clock or cycle of sleep and wake. “Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland under conditions of darkness, such as in the evening,” Dr. DelRosso explains. “The production of melatonin is blocked by light exposure during daytime.” Dr. DelRosso explains that there are two main things that regulate Dr. Lourdes DelRosso our sleep circadian timing. “One is melatonin and one is light exposure,” she states. “When our circadian clock does not match our social sleep requirements such in situations of jet lag, we can use melatonin and light to adjust to the
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new time. Similarly, we sometimes have a ‘delayed sleep cycle’ and a low dose of melatonin can help regulate or set up the new time.” There is sensible caution against using high doses of melatonin. What constitutes a high dose is debatable, but perhaps more than 3 mg/night. In a sleep clinic setting, patients may be treated with higher doses for specific sleep conditions, under MD supervision. Unfortunately, sometimes self-administration doses exceed 20-30 mg. Melatonin has become a buzzword–especially for parents desperate to help their child find much-needed rest. But Dr.
DelRosso cautions that there is a time and place for introducing this particular therapy into a child’s sleep regimen and to do so with help from your physician or pediatrician. “Our bodies naturally produce melatonin when its dark,” she details. “The circadian rhythm is designed in a way that light signals our brain that it is daytime, and so melatonin is not produced. However, in the absence of light, our sleep clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus) knows that it is time to sleep, and melatonin starts being produced.”
