Melatonin - EFR 6-20

Fads come and go, but we still have to provide the public with information so that they can make reasonable choices about what to believe. Melatonin has been made more creditable because some legitimate researchers have spoken positively about it. The following article can help your audiences keep perspective in assessing this latest wonder drug/magic bullet/health panacea!

(Submitted by Lisa Spence, Extension graduate assistant)

Excerpted from a commentary article by Fred W. Turek (Dept. of Neurobiology & Physiology at Northwestern University) entitled "Melatonin hype hard to swallow" in the Jan 25, 1996 (Vol 379) edition of NATURE.

The hormone melatonin is currently being advertised as an instant cure to several diseases. However, scientific data has been misrepresented by the media and researchers. Reports have stated that a single melatonin pill will cure or prevent cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cataracts, AIDS, depression, schizophrenia, sudden infant death syndrome, epilepsy, autism, Parkinson's disease, jet-lag and influenza. It is also being linked to improving sex life, reversing the ageing process and helping one to sleep better and lose weight.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland, a pea- sized organ at the center of the human brain. Scientific investigations have focused on melatonin's chronobiological properties as well as its influence on several cellular processes that could influence physiological systems, including the sleep and immune systems. This data along with the result that melatonin levels significantly decline with age, have led to many hypotheses about melatonin's role in ageing and age-associated diseases, and has created the present enthusiasm about melatonin therapy.

Two popular books instigating the melatonin fad are indicative of many recent publications written by scientists attempting to relay their message to the public. In The Melatonin Miracle (W. Pierpaoli and W. Regelson), the authors state that melatonin brings blood cholesterol levels back to normal, lowers high blood pressure, and helps to prevent heart attack and stroke. However, no human studies are cited that test whether melatonin supplements can do any of these things. References are anecdotal and are vague about the reasons for these changes.

A main theme in the book Melatonin (R. Reiter and J. Robinson) is that research is not sufficient and that more testing is needed especially with the possible therapeutic uses of melatonin specifically as an anti-ageing compound. The daily rhythm in circulating melatonin declines with age. Other age- related declines in various hormones, such as growth hormone and testosterone, have also been observed. Many investigators are examining the impact of these hormonal declines on the ageing process. Many of the claims associating melatonin with beneficial effects are based on a few small experiments or on individual testimonials, and the data are inconclusive. More animal studies are needed to determine if melatonin treatment can slow or reverse ageing along with establishing the mechanism of effects. Clinical trials should be conducted to demonstrate if melatonin supplementation will benefit the elderly and also to determine if toxicity could exist. Finally, drug companies may not be eager to support such trials because of expense and melatonin's non-patentable status. Ultimately, test subjects for melatonin, without their knowledge and without any scientific evaluation of melatonin's effectiveness or toxicity, will be drug and health-food store customers until patentable melatonin analogues are used in clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

Enthusiasm is tremendous for research on melatonin and the implications of its use. Great public interest in melatonin's possible benefits, will now give scientists in the field a perfect opportunity to build on the research that covers 40 years to verify if the hormone can really exacerbate or eliminate specific human diseases.