Among children ages 5 to 9, 18.5% had been given melatonin in the previous 30 days. For preteens ages 10 to 13, that number rose to 19.4%. Nearly 6% of preschoolers ages 1 to 4 had used melatonin in the previous month."
https://youtu.be/h2aWYjSA1Jc?si=w6_YgZKQq65YyatP https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/blue-lig...
Why can’t we sleep? Because we keep an on-demand world-class carnival in our houses, and light them up super-bright at night. If you describe what we do and how we live, the cause of the overwhelming majority of sleep issues in our society is obvious. It’d be very surprising if that way of living didn’t cause widespread sleep issues.
And the same, in reverse, applies to workspaces/schools with not enough natural light (or a good simulation thereof).
Can you give some suggestions?
The main thing is that there are non-visual receptors in our eyes that are used for determining the level of "daylight", and they are most sensitive to light around 480nm [1]. To give the right signals, you want to match daylight's intensity in this part of the spectrum at day, but gradually decrease it to zero in the late evening.
You can look for lightbulbs or LED strips that come with a quantified measure of melanopic vs standard lux (it's sadly not common), or you can look for light sources that come with a graph of the emitted spectrum (a requirement for the new EU energy efficiency label!) and make an educated guess.
Generally, 1800 K or colder(/"warmer") LEDs will have little of the melanopic component, using "monochromatic" orange LEDs is also an option (both dimmed appropriately).
[1] See graph here: https://www.thelightreviewonline.com/explainer-melanopic-lux...
> researchers analyzed 25 melatonin gummy products and found that 22 contained different amounts of melatonin than the label indicated. One had more than three times the amount on the label. One had none at all. In addition, some melatonin supplements have been found to contain other concerning substances, such as serotonin
It's almost as if humanity, with US often leading the way, wants to destroy itself. Well, or maybe somewhat more precise: one part of humanity is super selfish and only cares about power/money, and drags a large part of the rest with them.
I think we should do little placebo trials at home. Not double blind, obviously. But still the risks are known (none, except character damage maybe).
What evidence is lacking exactly?
https://www.narconon.org/drug-information/cocaine-circa-1860...
Anecdotal evidence is not a substitute for pharmacology research, controlled medical trials.
But, you know, sure. Why not. Of course people did these studies because with positive results you’ll get published and it’s a bit of a softball, since it’s like, exactly what must be the result given the situation:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33417003/
Results: Of 2642 papers, 23 RCTs met inclusion criteria. Our results indicated that melatonin had significant effect on sleep quality as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (WMD: - 1.24; 95% CI - 1.77, - 0.71, p = 0.000).
Conclusion: We found that the treatment with exogenous melatonin has positive effects on sleep quality as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in adult.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31982807/
Conclusions: Melatonin was an effective and tolerable drug in the short-term treatment of sleep onset insomnia in children and adolescents.
Etc
There’s no controversy whether it works or not. The only controversy is on chronic supplementation, which is entirely fair.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_and_efficacy_of_homeo...
"The proposed mechanisms for homeopathy are precluded from having any effect by the laws of physics and physical chemistry.[18] The extreme dilutions used in homeopathic preparations usually leave not one molecule of the original substance in the final product."
It remains a multi-billion dollar industry.
Whether melatonin is closer to medicine or nonsense can't be solved with anecdotes.
I admitted my comment is an anecdote, but that doesn't cancel out the voluminous research and study done on melatonin. We know that melatonin is a hormone that is involved with regulating sleep cycles. I'm not sure what evidence you're looking for but internet trolls love to move goalposts anywhere they want to. Yes, millions of people use melatonin effectively every single night. You can call that an anecdote, but you've provided no evidence that melatonin does not do what it's being used for. All evidence and study points to one thing: melatonin helps people sleep. Just go google it yourself, don't have a pointless conversation about anecdotes.
Supplements don't always work like the natural thing they're meant to supplement. Humans are really bad at knowing how inputs affect their health, and it's difficult to go through the long and laborious process of elimination to verify the cause if you've already convinced yourself of something. Self-reporting is notoriously unreliable for this and other reasons.
All available evidence does point to melatonin being an effective sleep aid. It is known to regulate sleep cycles, and it does so effectively for millions of people every night. It's no mystery or placebo. You can say it is all you want, but you've provided no evidence at all to support your feelings. And homeopathy has nothing at all to do with melatonin consumption as a sleep aid.
The burden of proof is on you. Proof might exist, but I'm not convinced you have it. Otherwise, you'd lead with it instead of an anecdote.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi...
"Research shows that a supplement may help people with insomnia fall asleep slightly faster and may have bigger benefits for those with delayed sleep phase syndrome—falling asleep very late and waking up late the next day."
I'm sure you'll try to move the goalposts anywhere you want before you accept that melatonin does in fact put people to sleep.
>> All available evidence does point to melatonin being an effective sleep aid.
What evidence?
>> "It is known to regulate sleep cycles"
Anecdotally, as best as you've demonstrated. This is not, as you claimed, "voluminous research and study done on melatonin."
If we're going with your silly metaphor, you moved the goal posts.
Anecdotes are not "voluminous research and study done on melatonin." A blog with no standards is not "voluminous research and study done on melatonin."
Show the "voluminous research and study done on melatonin" that you claimed exists or go away. I've made no claims to support. I've only asked you to back your own statements up.
Again, the burden of proof is on you.
You're seriously trying to say Johns Hopkins Medical Center is just some rando blog to try to prove your pointless point? You're either clueless or a really bad troll.
>What evidence?
Yeah, where's your evidence that it doesn't work?? Crickets.
>Anecdotally, as best as you've demonstrated. This is not, as you claimed, "voluminous research and study done on melatonin."
"It is known to regulate sleep cycles" is not anecdotal. This has been known science for quite a long time, no doubt before you were born, kiddo.
>Again, the burden of proof is on you.
I've provided proof, from a reputable medical source. You've provided nothing but your feels.
PUT UP OR SHUT UP. Without any proof from you, this conversation is really over.
I hope you have the day you deserve.
The burden of proof is now on you, so you lose by default since you've provided nothing to back up your claims. And that's the end of this stupid, pointless "conversation".
I dont want to devalue your experience. But this experimentation is usually not "(placebo) controlled" and not "double blind".
You could! Take a randomly selected real-or-placebo, that's marked as such but you do not know at the time. See if you can feel the difference, not your experience, repeat. Then look at your results. According to placebo science the results may shock you.
I hope you're sleeping well now regardless. Lack of good sleep is like slow torture.