melatonin | The PrimAGE 2/2

How does Melatonin Influence Your Body's Internal Clock?

3 min read

The hormone of darkness - Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain that helps you fall asleep by triggering feelings of drowsiness. Melatonin levels rise in reaction to darkness, coordinating with the circadian rhythm (a 24-hour cycle that governs physical activities) to prepare your body for the first stage of sleep, awake. Sleep quality can be harmed by low melatonin synthesis, making it difficult to fall asleep. Night shift workers, those with sleep disorders, and frequent travellers may have sleep disruptions and poor sleep quality, which can be connected to melatonin deficiency.

What regulates melatonin production?

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain's hypothalamus regulates melatonin release by coordinating the timing of biological activities. The SCN, which is located above the optic nerves that connect your brain to your eyes, determines however much melatonin it secretes based on the amount of light entering your eyes. When it gets darker outside, your body produces more melatonin, which makes you sleepy. If your circadian clock is out of whack, your body may produce irregular melatonin throughout the day, causing sleep-wake cycles to be disrupted or sleep disorders to develop.

The consequences of melatonin deficiency in the human body

Poor sleep quality

When it comes to enhancing your performance and concentration, sleep is one of the most significant components. Melatonin, the sleep hormone, plays an important role in your sleep. Restlessness, a poor stress reaction, sleeplessness, and waking up too early in the morning can all be indicators of a deficit.

Stress & anxiety

Cortisol (a stress hormone) levels are at their lowest around midnight, according to research. They will begin to rise two to three hours after you go to bed and will continue to rise throughout the night as you wake up. This demonstrates an inverse relationship between melatonin production and release and cortisol:

The levels of cortisol in the body decrease as the levels of melatonin in the body rise.
As the body's melatonin levels fall, the body's cortisol levels rise.

Thus, a person with a low melatonin level will tend to have a higher stress response & have a risk of an anxiety incidence.

Besides that, Melatonin also aids in the physiological stress response. During the stress response, the body's temperature, blood pressure, and hormone levels all rise. Melatonin is important in the regulation of these physiological factors, which assists the body in relieving stress.

Weaker Immune

Melatonin sends signals to the immune system, and the immune system "talks" back, according to researchers. This "cross-talk" helps to fine-tune and coordinate healthy immunity. It strengthens innate defences against a wide range of pathogens, including viruses and cancer cells.

Melatonin enhances the body's immunity in several ways:

Improving the responses of antibodies that "tag" specific viruses, bacteria, and other invaders to be attacked by various immune system components,
Reducing chronic inflammation, which is the root cause of nearly all age-related chronic diseases
Increasing T cell activity, which aids in the more efficient destruction of pathogens.

Accelerated ageing process

Melatonin aids in the slowing of the ageing process in tissues such as the brain. It protects all tissues in the body because of its' powerful antioxidant property.

Is synthetic melatonin supplement your preferred option?

Melatonin supplements are not authorised for sale over the counter in countries like the UK, Ireland and also in Malaysia. Melatonin is a prescription-only medicine in these countries due to the fact that melatonin is a type of hormone. Even though in some other countries it is available to buy in health food shops or online.

When you supplement a hormone (melatonin), you are interfering with your own body's biosynthesis process, which many people cannot tolerate, resulting in a lot of dreams and dizziness in the morning. The common side effects of synthetic melatonin include:

feeling sleepy or tired in the daytime
headache
stomach ache or feeling sick (nausea)
feeling dizzy
feeling irritable or restless
dry mouth
dry or itchy skin
pains in your arms or legs
strange dreams or night sweats

Maize-derived ingredient, a safer alternative to synthetic melatonin

Maizinol, a natural ingredient derived from corn leaves (Zea mays), acts via the melatonin pathway. Its active compound is structurally similar to melatonin, binds with the receptors and boosts the body's own melatonin biosynthesis, without having adverse effects like synthetic melatonin.

Maizinol was found to assist with sleep & stress-related symptoms. A clinical study showed the ingredient significantly increased deep-sleep time by 30 minutes when taken before bed. It has also shown a significant reduction (~30%) in cortisol levels in the early morning.

Maizinol is marketed under the brand The PrimAGE ReszGuard in Malaysia.

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Coronasomnia - How is the pandemic wrecking our sleep?

4 min read

COVID-19 has provided us with numerous reasons to be concerned. Here's another example: More people than ever are suffering from severe sleep deprivation as a result of the pandemic and stress. It's known as "coronasomnia." It's very real and very common.

A recent study conducted revealed "very high rates of clinically significant insomnia” along with more acute stress, anxiety, and depression during the pandemic. No one is surprised by this. As who hasn't had a few sleepless nights recently? Or a lot of sleepless nights? And who hasn't felt stressed by jumbled lives and health restrictions that seem to have no end in sight?

Even before the pandemic, medical experts were already concerned about rising rates of insomnia and its consequences on physical and emotional health. With COVID-19 stress, significant changes in routines, and decreased activity for many people, medical experts believe the coronavirus has caused the second pandemic of insomnia.

Coronasomnia is exacerbated by disrupted routines

As if COVID fatigue and anxiety weren't enough, there's another cause of coronasomnia: Our normal routines have been shattered. On the one hand, our lives have become overly routine. We can hardly leave the house. We don't go to movies, restaurants, bars and pubs, or any of the other places where we could meet new people. As humans, we require stimulation. We require some variety in our activities. When our lives become so routine, a lack of stimulation and activities contributes to poor sleep.

On the other hand, many people who work from home have strayed from their normal daily routines, which has an impact on their sleep. We're supposed to be awake during the day and asleep at night, but many people work and sleep at odd hours after the pandemic. Their circadian rhythms are thrown off. Every cell in your body is regulated by the body's "internal clock". They have an impact on your eating, digestion, immune response, and sleep. When the master clock is disrupted, everything else starts to fail.

Coronasomnia is a series of vicious circles

Insomnia is self-perpetuating. The more you can't sleep, the more you worry about it, and the less sleep you get. In fact, COVID-19-related insomnia is formed in an interconnected vicious circle:

Many of the things we do to combat insomnia, such as taking a nap during the day or drinking an extra glass of wine, actually worsen our sleep problems and disrupt our routines.
COVID-19 has worn us all out. When you add exhaustion from lack of sleep, every new annoyance, no matter how minor, causes frustration and anxiety – and further disruption to sleep.
Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, which can cause issues such as reflux, which keeps you awake.
Sleep deprivation has a variety of health consequences, ranging from depression to high blood pressure to an increased chance of heart attack or stroke. These factors can make us more prone to COVID-19, which causes increased anxiety and insomnia.

Follow these tips for a more restful night

There are several things that individuals can accomplish on their own. It all starts with adopting actions to combat COVID fatigue's stress. Here are some sleep tips:

Maintain a regular daily schedule: If you're working from home, keep the same schedule you would if you were going to work. Don't go to bed early or stay up late. Get up when that alarm goes off, no matter how unpleasant it is. Also, just as you would at the office, take a break during the day. Take a break for lunch, go for a stroll, or simply get outside.
Create and stick to a bedtime routine: At the end of the day, slow down. About a half-hour before bedtime, start dimming the lights. The production of natural melatonin is inhibited by bright lights (a hormone that is part of our natural sleep cycle and helps us sleep).
Avoid using devices in bed: Blue light from phones, tablets, and computers tells our bodies to stay awake and stop producing melatonin. It's difficult, but please turn off your electronics. Reading a book is preferable to watching TV.
Do not use your bedroom, particularly your bed, as an office: You want to train your brain that here is where you rest. You don't want it to say, 'This is your workplace.'
Get some exercise during the day: It helps to relieve stress and maintain our bodies natural rhythms. It's ideal to do the exercise a few hours before bedtime to allow your body to cool down and relax.
Get some sunlight: It aids in the maintenance of our circadian rhythms, allowing us to manufacture melatonin at night rather than during the day.
If you can't sleep and wake up in the middle of the night, get out of bed: While a change of environment can help you reset, keep the lights low and avoid doing anything that would invigorate you. Get up and leave the bedroom if you can't sleep for more than a half-hour. In the dull light, do something easy and monotonous.
Limit your intake of alcohol and caffeine, as both disrupt your sleep patterns: While alcohol can help you fall asleep, it does not guarantee that you will stay asleep or sleep well. "Not all sleep is created equal". We want to get the right amount of sleep.
Sleep medicine should be used with caution: over-the-counter sleep aids such as some flu medication can cause restless sleep or drowsiness in the morning, and prescription drugs can lead to emotional dependency. Some over-the-counter supplements can help to relieve sleep disturbance problems.

Too often, people do not consider insomnia to be a medical issue, despite the fact that it is making them miserable. It is frequently overlooked, despite the fact that a lack of adequate sleep might result in increased health risks. Chronic sleep deprivation can weaken your body's defences and make you more susceptible to illness, especially in the midst of the current pandemic.