Melatonin regulates sleep better than sleeping pills

A study by two professors of the Center for Biomedical Research at the University of Granada, Darío Acuña Castroviejo and Germaine-Escames, concluded that melatonin is an excellent sleep regulator that can eventually replace sleeping pills, much more aggressive, in order to correct the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness when human biological clock is altered.

Melatonin, which is also known as the “hormone of darkness” because the body produces during the night, is secreted naturally by the human body itself, although there are also supplements made with it that have become a very interesting instrument facing the treatment of sleep disorders.

The researchers suggest that melatonin is a chronobiotic highly effective in the treatment of chronobiological alterations of the sleep-wake cycle, although its administration should be done at certain times of day,  delaying it as appropriate.

Therefore they indicate that the lack of effect of melatonin, in most cases, is due to improper administration. The study authors also point out that endogenous melatonin, secreted by the body itself, plays an important role in circadian regulation of sleep, whereas exogenous administered through supplements, has an influence on sleep aspects such as latency and quality.

The use of melatonin to regulate sleep is not the only study conducted by Acuna and Escames teachers. In recent years, both have shown that this substance is also useful for reducing cell aging, treat diseases like Parkinson’s and reduce cell death caused by serious infectious processes that affect the entire body, which is technically known as sepsis.