ARE THE MELATONIN SUPPLEMENTS POTENTIAL TREATMENT OPTIONS? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
AbstractIntroduction: Melatonin is a neuro-hormone secreted from the pineal gland and involved in various regulatory activities in body. Ever-increasing use of melatonin supplements and enlarging research evidences make the authors undertook the review to arrive at a qualitative conclusion whether melatonin supplements can act as potential treatment options or not.
Methodology: A comprehensive search was undertaken in different electronic databases using various search terms. A total of 225 studies were identified including clinical research studies and basic experiments. Data were extracted individually from the studies and compiled in the end.
Results: Melatonin has been used successfully in chronic insomnia and as an anti-oxidant in cancer and other age-related neuro-degenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s disease and Autistic disorders. Its evidences of use in other conditions remained insufficient and inconclusive.
Conclusion: Melatonin therapy may be considered as efficacious and safe in insomnia and as an anti-oxidant; however, other roles needs to be evaluated in further studies.
Article Information
3
3711-3730
455KB
1425
English
IJPSR
Subhranil Saha*, Munmun Koley and Sandip Patra
Senior Research Fellow, Clinical Research Unit (Homoeopathy), Gokhel Road, Arabindopally, Siliguri 734006, West Bengal, India
drsubhranilsaha@hotmail.com
17 May, 2013
18 June, 2013
13 September, 2013
http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.4(10).3711-30
01 October, 2013
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