- Researchers say that people with insomnia who use melatonin supplements for more than a year have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than people with insomnia who do not use sleep aids.
- Experts say the study raises some important questions, but note that it does not directly link melatonin to the cause of heart disease risk.
- They added that melatonin is designed for short-term use and that there are ways to get quality sleep without taking medication.
Researchers report that long-term use of melatonin supplements may increase the risk of heart failure.
their
Their study will be presented at the American Heart Association later this week.
The preliminary study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The researchers acknowledged that their study did not establish a causal relationship between melatonin supplements and heart failure risk.
However, they noted that these results raise safety concerns about long-term use of melatonin, so additional studies of these supplements may be needed to assess cardiovascular safety.
Researchers also noted that many melatonin supplements are sold over-the-counter without a prescription. They said these products are unregulated and people can use them without the guidance of a medical professional.
“Melatonin supplements may not be as harmless as commonly assumed. If our study is confirmed, it could impact how doctors counsel their patients about sleep aids.” Ekenedirichukwu Nnadi“The study’s lead author, MD, chief resident in internal medicine at SUNY Downstate/Kings County Primary Care in Brooklyn, New York, said:
Experts who were not involved in the study said that while it is important to point out that the study does not directly link melatonin to cardiovascular disease risk, it raises some serious questions.
“This study raises several important and unexpected concerns,” he said. Manipulated TadwalkerMD is a consultant cardiologist and director of the Digital Transformation Pacific Heart Institute in Santa Monica, California. “It’s interesting because melatonin has been thought to protect the heart.”
“The results are very surprising,” he added. Chen ChenghanMD is an interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California. “In other words, association (with risk) is different from causation.”
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the body by the pineal gland. This helps regulate your body’s sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin levels increase in darkness and decrease during daylight hours.
Melatonin supplements are chemically identical synthetic versions of the hormone. Insomnia is often used to treat symptoms such as difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early.
It is estimated that it is about
However, researchers of the new study said there is a lack of data on melatonin’s long-term cardiovascular safety. This led them to investigate whether melatonin use could increase the risk of heart failure, especially in patients with chronic insomnia.
Researchers examined electronic health records from a database of more than 130,000 people. The average age of subjects was 55 years. More than 60% were women.
They divided the participants into two groups: those with insomnia who had used melatonin supplements for at least a year and those with insomnia who had no history of using these supplements.
There were approximately 65,000 people in each group.
None of the people in the study had previously been diagnosed with heart failure or had been prescribed sleep medications other than melatonin.
Researchers reported that subjects who used melatonin for more than a year were 90 percent more likely to develop heart failure over a five-year period compared to subjects who did not use the sleep aid.
Participants who took melatonin were nearly 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than participants who did not use melatonin supplements.
Additionally, people in the melatonin group were almost twice as likely to die from any cause compared to the non-melatonin group.
Tadwalkar noted that one reason for these numbers may be that people with chronic sleep problems may face health risks associated with that condition whether or not they take melatonin.
“This could be a guilt-by-association type situation,” he told Healthline.
Chen said melatonin was designed as a short-term treatment. He said people who need to take sleeping pills for more than a year may have other serious underlying problems.
“They should probably see a sleep specialist and try to figure out what’s going on,” he told Healthline.
Experts say that getting the recommended seven hours of sleep a night offers many health benefits.
Sleep has been named one of the key components by the American Heart Association (AHA).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), quality sleep can improve your overall health in several ways. these
- stronger immune system
- maintaining a healthy weight
- Improves heart health and metabolism
- Reduces risk of chronic diseases (such as type 2 diabetes)
- Improved memory and cognition
- Reduce stress and improve mood
Chen and Tadwalkar both said that the health risks from sleep deprivation probably outweigh the potential risks from melatonin use.
“Not sleeping well can put a lot of stress on your heart,” Chen said.
“Inadequate sleep poses major cardiovascular risks,” Tadwalkar added. “Chronic insomnia is a huge red flag.”
There are several things you can do to get quality sleep without drugs. Among them:
- Exposure to bright light during the day
- Reduce blue light exposure at night
- Avoid caffeine late in the day
- avoid drinking late at night
- avoid late meals
- Exercise during the day but not at night
- Having a comfortable bed and pillows
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
Both experts recommended going to bed in a dark, cool, quiet room and avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and electronic screens in the evening.
