Melatonin News and Research

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Melatonin, also known chemically as N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, is a naturally occurring compound found in animals, plants, and microbes. In animals, circulating levels of the hormone melatonin vary in a daily cycle, thereby allowing the entrainment of the circadian rhythms of several biological functions.

Melatonin useless when it comes to sorting out sleep disorders

According to Canadian scientists there is no evidence to support the belief that melatonin has any effect in the treatment of sleep disorders.

12 Feb 2006

Synthetic compound could arrest development of Alzheimer's

Spanish chemists have developed a promising set of synthetic compounds that one day could help slow or perhaps halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

21 Dec 2005

Role of melatonin for the treatment of cancer increasing in improtance

Researchers say that the results are so compelling that cancer funding agencies should be eager to support clinical trials to evaluate its therapeutic role in a variety of cancers.

7 Dec 2005

Seasonal depression affects hamsters

A new study suggests that hamsters may suffer from symptoms of anxiety and depression during the dark days of winter, just as some humans do.

21 Nov 2005

Bright light therapy may aid patients with depressive and bipolar disorders

A report in the November Cell Metabolism reveals powerful effects of light on the adrenal glands, a finding that might explain the broad benefits of bright light therapy for a variety of conditions, including sleep and depressive disorders, according to researchers.

14 Nov 2005

Simple, at-home treatment for jet lag

A simple, at-home treatment -- a single light box and the over-the-counter drug melatonin -- allows travelers to avoid jet lag by resetting their circadian body clock before crossing several time zones, according to new research being published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

3 Nov 2005

Fertility treatment most successful in summer

When it comes to considering fertility treatment, scientists say that women who have the treatment during the summer are twice as likely to become pregnant as those who have it in the winter.

19 Oct 2005

Adolescents who are lethargic, cranky and forgetful may have chronic sleep deprivation

Adolescents who are lethargic, cranky and forgetful may have a common ailment: chronic sleep deprivation. But some tired teens may actually have a medical condition such as depression, insomnia, narcolepsy or sleep apnea, warns a new report in Pediatrics.

6 Jun 2005

Brains of one species of mouse actually shrink during the winter

The brains of one species of mouse actually shrink during the winter, causing the mice to have more difficulty with some types of learning, a new study found.

15 May 2005

Parents are more likely to get a good night’s sleep if they take their babies out in the early afternoon

56 healthy, full-term babies were monitored for three consecutive days at six, nine and twelve weeks’ old. Parents were supplied with an environmental light monitor attached to a small teddy bear with Velcro fastenings, so that it could be attached to a pram handle or cot or placed near the baby.

23 Nov 2004

First study to measure the influence of night-shift work on hormone levels that may affect breast-cancer risk

Three years ago, investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center made headlines nationwide when they published the results of a population-based study that suggested women who work the graveyard shift have an increased risk of breast cancer as opposed to women who work the day shift.

26 Oct 2004

Chemical pathways of serotonin in the nervous system pave way for future pharmaceutical treatments for depression

From mollusks to mammals, newly discovered chemical pathways of serotonin in the nervous system are paving a path toward future pharmaceutical treatments for depression and other disorders.

10 Sep 2004

Experts consider evidence of link between the rise in childhood leukaemia and increased light at night

International experts will today consider the evidence for a link between the rise in childhood leukaemia and increased light at night at an international scientific conference in London.

8 Sep 2004

Conference – Childhood leukaemia: incidence, causal mechanisms and prevention

The advances in treating childhood leukaemia over the last forty years have been one of cancer’s outstanding success stories – but the fall in mortality has diverted attention from a rise in incidence, a London conference will hear today (Monday 6 September).

5 Sep 2004

Pineal gland which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking evolved to improve vision

The pineal gland - which regulates the cycles of sleep and waking - appears to have evolved as an indirect way to improve vision, by keeping toxic compounds away from the eye

13 Aug 2004

Natural hormone called melatonin may guide our sleep patterns

Our general sleep patterns – being sleepy at night and awake during the day – are guided to a great extent by our exposure to light and darkness.

10 Jul 2004

Seasons may be involved in onset of menopause

Research by Hungarian fertility experts published (Thursday 10 June, 2004) in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction, has revealed that the onset of the menopause may not be dictated only by the fact that a woman’s lifetime supply of eggs are running low, but also by changes in the seasons.

14 Jun 2004

Genes that allow nerve cells to communicate may have come from bacteria eons ago

Some of the genes that allow nerve cells and some other types of cells to send elaborate chemical messages to each other appear to have been transferred to animals or their immediate ancestors from bacteria eons ago.

2 Jun 2004

Small, frequent doses of caffeine best strategy for staying awake

Caffeine is the world's most widely-used stimulant yet, scientists still do not know exactly how it staves off sleep. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and other institutions have now discovered that caffeine works by thwarting one of two interacting physiological systems that govern the human sleep-wake cycle.

11 May 2004