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Melatonin: Body
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Melatonin is another alternative used to induce sleep. You may have heard of people using it for jet lag. This hormone is naturally produced in the body. Melatonin is usually ingested within an hour of bedtime. Some contend that melatonin can cause depression and schizophrenia. No typeical side effects have yet been discovered but always consult your practitioner when taking any drug.
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Melatonin is a hormone with incredible promise. However, it presents some concerns as well. The safest approach appears to be adopting a lifestyle that maximizes your own body's production of this valuable compound.
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Melatonin ... has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that help to improve the body’s immune response to infection. Recent studies have shown that salivary melatonin levels may actually vary according to the degree of periodontal disease, indicating that melatonin may act to protect the body from periodontal bacteria and inflammation.
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Patient education for Melatonin (oral dosage forms). Melatonin is a hormone that the body produces. Melatonin performs many functions; some functions are not well understood. It is known that the melatonin in the body contributes to the natural regulation of sleep during night hours. Melatonin products are used to help some people who have difficulty maintaining normal sleep patterns.
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Melatonin seems to operate independently of the complex orchestration that links the activity of the other hormones of the endocrine system. Mysterious and at home in darkness, its cue is the daily cyclic variation in light. While previous research has focused almost exclusively on melatonins role in pacing the body’s day/night rhythms, new findings suggest it may exert potent anti-ageing effects.
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Melatonin has been used with conventional anticancer therapy in more than a dozen clinical studies. Results have been surprisingly good, although this research must be considered preliminary. For example, a double-blind study on 30 people with advanced brain tumors suggested that melatonin might prolong life and ... improve the quality of life.5 Participants received standard radiation treatment with or without 20 mg daily of melatonin. After 1 year, 6 of 14 individuals in the melatonin group were still alive, compared with just 1 of 16 from the control group. The melatonin group also had fewer side effects due to the radiation treatment-a notable improvement in their quality of life. Improvements in symptoms and a possible reduction of mortality were also seen in other studies.6,7 Melatonin appears to work by increasing levels of the body's own tumor-fighting proteins, known as cytokines.8
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