To Your Health
June, 2012 (Vol. 06, Issue 06) |
|
|
Reducing Alzheimer's Risk by Supplementing With Melatonin
By James P. Meschino, DC, MS
A number of recent clinical trials that have tested the ability of melatonin supplementation to reduce the development of Alzheimer's disease in high-risk patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
Mild cognitive impairment is the stage of
memory loss and functional brain capacity decline that is the forerunner to the development of full-blown Alzheimer's disease.
Patients with mild cognitive impairment are diagnosed based on a variety of signs and symptoms often first noticed by their friends and family, including a greater tendency than normal to forget things; forget important events such as appointments or social engagements; lose their train of thought or the thread of conversations, books or movies they are reading or viewing; feel increasingly overwhelmed by making decisions, planning steps to accomplish a task or interpreting instructions; have trouble finding their way around familiar environments; and/or be more impulsive or show increasingly poor judgment.
Melatonin Supplementation Studies
In recent years, the landmark studies showed that patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who were administered melatonin had significantly less progression to Alzheimer's disease over time than MCI patients who were not taking melatonin supplements. In these studies, the dosage range was 3-9 mg, taken one hour before bedtime. In addition, two other preliminary studies showed improved cognitive performance in MCI patients using melatonin dosages as low as 1 mg and as high as 6 mg.
This research is particularly compelling when you consider the fact that melatonin levels begin to decline during our teenage years, and by age 40 have reached a low enough level to often trigger sleep disturbance problems. The pineal gland in the brain normally secretes melatonin in the late-evening hours (darkness is a trigger), which helps to induce sleep. As such, lower age-related melatonin levels in the brain are a major cause of insomnia and interrupted sleep as we get older.
Many people take melatonin as a natural sleep aid because it helps them fall asleep. However, melatonin is also a powerful brain antioxidant, and its ability to quench free radicals in this role and suppress the build-up of beta-amyloid plaque are the ways in which it has been shown in experimental studies to inhibit the steps that lead to Alzheimer's disease. The recent clinical trials showing that melatonin helps prevent Alzheimer's disease in high-risk patients is of great significance when you consider that MCI affects a large percentage of the population over 60 years of age.
Mild Cognitive Impairment, Brain Atrophy and Alzheimer's Disease
We have known for many years that the brains of elderly people show atrophy. More recently, we have realized that atrophy occurs even in cognitively healthy subjects, but is much more accelerated in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Studies show the following:
- An intermediate rate of atrophy is found in people with mild MCI.
- People over 60 years of age without MCI normally have brain shrinkage of approximately 0.5 percent per year.
- Individuals showing MCI normally have a brain atrophy rate twice as high, approximately 1 percent per year.
- Alzheimer's patients can lose as much as 2.5 percent of brain volume per year.
Drugs Versus Supplements for Sleep Disorders
With the recent finding that prescription sleep medications are linked to an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, premature death and other health conditions, I have argued that taking melatonin in a supplement that also includes 5-HTP, GABA and Bacopa monnieri is a much safer and effective strategy to remedy age-related insomnia and sleep disturbances. With recent studies showing that melatonin supplementation may be an important measure to help prevent Alzheimer's disease and stabilize cases of MCI, the argument in favor of using a melatonin supplement as a sleep aid, instead of prescription and over-the-counter sleeping pills, becomes even more compelling. Talk to your doctor of chiropractic for more information.
James Meschino, DC, MS, practices in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is the author of four nutrition books, including The Meschino Optimal Living Program and Break the Weight Loss Barrier.
