Melatonin and Prostate Cancer

Melatonin is the hormone produced by your brain when it gets dark - it tells your brain it's time to sleep. This study analyzed levels of a melatonin metabolite in the urine of older men from Iceland. The results showed that melatonin metabolite levels were lowest in those that reported sleep aid use, trouble falling asleep, or trouble staying asleep. And those men that had the highest levels of the metabolite had a 75% decreased risk of advanced prostate cancer.

The article does not discuss possible mechanisms, and more studies are needed before melatonin is recommended to ward off prostate cancer.

Week of camping can reset sleep schedule

Research has shown that our modern lifestyle can make it hard to get to bed early enough. Not just indoor lighting, but the screens from electronic devices used close to bedtime can delay sleep. This article discussed a study about the effects of light on sleep. Researchers took volunteers who normally slept after midnight and 8 am. They had them sleep in tents outdoors for one week with no external lighting of any kind, and no cell phones. After a week, the volunteers had shifted their sleep schedules two hours earlier. Researchers said the participants melatonin levels changed, being secreted earlier.

The headline of this article is misleading, however. The week of camping won't have a lasting affect when the volunteers go back home to their routines. They would have to restructure their time so that their homes are relatively dark and to not use electronic devices close to bed.

Electronic devices can disrupt sleeping

Here is another article discussing research that shows that the electronic devices that you use in your bed can disrupt your sleep. Even though the screen is not very bright, it still disrupts secretion of melatonin, the hormone normally released to let your brain know it's time to sleep. Also, the devices tend to be stimulating and may increase alertness, rather than allowing you to relax and get sleepy. Finally, the devices strengthen the association of being awake in your bed. This by itself can fuel insomnia. You should only use your bed for sleep only.

Don't use these devices in your bed. You can use them on the couch in the living room - just get a blue light filter or use a blue light blocking program like f.lux.

Type 2 diabetes linked to low melatonin levels

Melatonin is the hormone produced in your brain when the sun goes down. It is the signal that says it's time for sleep soon. This article talks about a study that showed that people with low amounts of melatonin at night were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

It will be interesting to see if taking melatonin would prevent people who are at risk from developing diabetes. Research also needs to be done to figure out how and why melatonin is related to diabetes. I wonder if people with type 1 diabetes also have low melatonin levels at night.

Treating REM sleep behavior disorder

This article discusses REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). It's a type of sleepwalking disorder, most commonly seen in older men with neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinsons Disease. It's not curable, but can be treated. Sometimes, untreated obstructive sleep apnea drives the RBD. Certain medications, like antidepressants, can worsen RBD. I sometimes use Klonopin, but have used melatonin or a medicine for Restless legs syndrome.

The study compared melatonin and klonopin, and both seemed to be effective. Patients stopped the medications at about the same rate, but for different reasons - melatonin for lack of efficacy and klonopin for side effects.

For some patients, medications just do not help. It's important to make sure the bedroom environment is safe. Some patients need bed rails to prevent falling out of bed. I have even had some patients sleep in a sleeping bag so they wont be able to move that much! It works like swaddling a baby helps keep the baby from moving around in a crib.

Melatonin may improve sleep in patients taking beta-blockers

Beta blockers are a class of high blood pressure medications that have been around for decades. It is well known that beta blockers can disrupt sleep, possibly contribute to nightmares, and cause daytime fatigue. Beta blockers (along with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications) can reduce melatonin secretion, the hormone that is produced at night to help us sleep.

In the October edition of the Journal Sleep is a study about melatonin use in patients with high blood pressure on chronic beta blocker use. This study was a randomized, placebo controlled double blinded assessment. Patients' sleep was measured objectively in a sleep lab and at home for 3 weeks wtih actigraphy. Results showed statistically significant improvement in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and onset to sleep with the melatonin in the sleep lab and at home. There was no sign of tolerance or side effects to the melatonin, or rebound sleep problems after stopping the melatonin.

These results are promising, as many patients need to take beta blockers for their long term cardiovascular health. Since this study was only three weeks long, we don't know the long term effects of melatonin use, so caution is warranted. Also, getting quality is difficult, since the FDA does not regulate the production of melatonin.

Foods that promote sleep?

There is an article on Foxnews health about five foods that supposedly promote sleep. My immediate reaction to such a title is skepticism, as such "treatments" for insomnia rarely provide any lasting relief.

The first food is cottage cheese. The author says it helps sleep because it is a source of tryptophan, the same sleep-inducing amino acid in turkey. Unfortunately, consuming tryptophan is not likely to help most people who are struggling to sleep.

The next food mentioned is oatmeal. The author states that oatmeal is a slow-digesting carbohydrate that promotes serotonin release, the "feel good" neurotransmitter. He then says that serotonin is the sleep hormone - factually inaccurate on two counts - serotonin is not a hormone, it's a neurotransmitter, and many other neurotransmitters are thought to affect sleep.

Next is peanuts or peanut butter, which is a source of niacin. The author claims that niacin can promote serotonin - see above comment regarding oatmeal.

Warm milk is next and the author claims it has tryptophan - see cottage cheese. Also, the calcium in milk can help with melatonin production, so milk will help with sleep! If only it was that easy.

Finally, the author recommends grapes, which supposedly are the only food that contains melatonin. In my opinion, melatonin production is not the problem with most insomniacs.

Eating these foods most likely will not help chronic insomniacs. It could help someone who is just recently suffering from mild difficulty sleeping. This effect most likely would be due to a placebo response.

Relying on things external to our own body, whether it is food, pills, a special blanket, or whatever, probably won't work in the long term and can set up someone to become psychologically dependent on that thing to sleep. In other words, over time, the thing used to help sleep might be paired enough times with actual sleep so that if the thing is not available, the person will not be able to sleep.

Insomnia usually responds better to behavioral therapy, rather than relying on gimmicks like certain foods or other external things.