Melatonin

• Melatonin has been used as a treatment for many diseases but its efficacy and usefulness has not been proven in any case, so its use cannot be recommended.
• Overall, it appears that it may have some demonstrated efficacy in children with autism and mental retardation.
• This hormone is not harmful to the body but has undesirable effects such as headache, sadness, daytime sleepiness, dizziness, abdominal pain and irritability.

Source

Melatonin is of synthetic origin and is made in the laboratory, mostly in the form of tablets. The "natural" origin available on the market is generally composed of animal extracts and it is easy for it to be contaminated by viruses or other entities, so its use is totally discouraged.

Features

Melatonin has been used to adjust the biological clock in cases of sleep disturbances that can occur on intercontinental trips, in case of having very irregular work shifts, etc. However, scientific evidence is far from supporting the supposed effects of its administration and its effectiveness in promoting health or treating any disease has not been proven. Melatonin has also been used as a treatment for multiple conditions such as mild in children and adults, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), to help quit treatment with benzodiazepines and to reduce anxiety about quitting. of smoking. Melatonin has also been proven to treat tinnitus, depression, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, as a treatment for osteoporosis, as prevention of aging, for discomfort derived from the, to help control of the natality, against migraines, against epilepsy and as preparation for anesthesia, among many other clinical entities. In all these cases, the results of the studies carried out to assess the effectiveness of exogenous melatonin administration have not yielded sufficiently conclusive positive results to affirm that it is effective and recommended.

When is it effective?

Overall, it appears that it may have some demonstrated efficacy in children with autism and mental retardation, specifically in balancing sleep rhythms and helping children with cerebral palsy fall asleep.

Effects edit

Although its usefulness has not been proven, it seems that the use of externally administered melatonin might not be harmful to the body. However, it does have undesirable effects such as headache, sadness, daytime sleepiness, dizziness, abdominal pain, and irritability. In this sense, taking melatonin is not recommended in the following cases:

• Before driving vehicles.
• In pregnant women, lactating women, and in most children.
• In people who are taking central nervous system depressants, caffeine, fluvoxamine, antidiabetics, immunosuppressants, anticoagulants, nifedipine, verapamil or contraceptives.

These precautions are usually due basically to ignorance of the administration of melatonin supplements on the body, on the action of other hormones (especially during adolescence) and on other treatments (it is not recommended in hypertensive patients treated with drugs, diabetics, people with depression and who may have seizures). The effects on the body of long-term use of melatonin are unknown. In many countries it is sold as a dietary supplement and drug agencies have not approved its use as a drug due to lack of scientific justification. Since they are not endorsed by any drug agency, commercially available melatonin compounds have no guarantees about their purity and stability. In conclusion, no scientific evidence sufficiently supports the use of Melatonin for the maintenance or improvement of health in people so it cannot be recommended.