Melatonin's Lack Of Sleep

Melatonin is a regulator of sleep wake cycles in all organisms. Furthermore, it is synthesised in the pineal gland and begins as an amino acid tryptophan. This amino acid is converted to serotonin and then metabolized into melatonin by the N-acetylation of 5-HT preceded with the addition of a methyl group at the hydroxyl position of the molecule via two enzymes called hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) and N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) (Foulkes et al. 1997; Schomerus and Korf 2005). After those steps melatonin has been synthesised and will begin to affect the sleep wake cycle of the species.

This is a very interesting subject. Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland, which is what makes us sleepy. Melatonin is produced when it is dark. In the dark, eggs are protected in women that are fertile and ovulating. The eggs are better preserved and healthier. Women who are already pregnant who do not get enough sleep and have enough time in the dark, are likelier to have children born with ADHD and other behavioral problems. At least 8 hours is recommended for women, especially in the final trimester, to help produce sufficient melatonin. This helps the fetus receive sufficient melatonin which helps his/her biological clock as well as helps the fetus brain.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland - a small gland in the brain - under the baton of serotonin, which helps regulate other hormones and control "biological clock" or called. circadian rhythms of the body (alternating states of alertness / sleep, seasonal adaptations). The human organism synthesized a larger quantity melatonin with the coming of night and reduced during the day.

Melatonin is a hormone produced by serotonin. The levels of melatonin rise and fall during the day and the concentration of melatonin is most when sleeping and is at least around 12 o'clock in the day. Melatonin makes the body sleepy and drowsy.

Melatonin is a neuroendocrine compound primarily produced by the pineal gland that is best known for its role in regulating circadian rhythms. It plays a crucial role in several important physiological functions, including reproduction. It’s well documented that melatonin plays a determinant role in the success of human pregnancy (Voiculescu et al., 2014). Studies have shown that melatonin therapy has neuroprotective and cardioprotective effects in the IUGR fetus. (Reiter et al., 2014b), summarized the relationship of melatonin and circadian rhythmicity to maternal and fetal health in one review (Reiter et al., 2014a)

Circadian rhythm is also called your sleep-wake cycle. It can work better when you go to bed/wake up at the same time each day. It works like a biologic clock where you know instinctively what time is lunchtime, dinnertime, or time to go to bed. It also produces more of certain chemicals at certain times of day. These chemicals can include melatonin, testosterone, and cortisol.

Bright artificial lights at evenings suppress melatonin’s release, a hormone regulating sleep and circadian rhythms. Decrease in melatonin levels weakens internal clocks’ ability to prepare the body for sleep. This not only causes sleeping difficulties but also a groggy and tired feeling after waking up. Rapid-eye movement (REM) during sleep also lessens. This diminishes the brain’s ability to learn and store memories during sleep. Reduced sleep also increases risks of obesity, diabetes, depression and accidents. Greater exposure to natural light could reduce the body’s sensitivity to artificial light.

During the year 1980, Melatonin was used by many doctors in the USA in order to cure the patients who got symptom of sleepless. Thereafter there were many of research and studies had revealed other benefit of using it such as reduction of jet lag

Origin of melatonin is estimated 2.5 billion years and perform the function of an antioxidant to detoxify the free radicals generated during the process of aerobic metabolism with the other functions of melatonin presumably being acquired during evolution (Tan et al. 2010, Tan et al. 2013). Melatonin is an important hormone which regulates the physiology (energy metabolism, reproduction, anticancer etc.) of an organism through environmental stimuli, including the biological clock in animals. The daily secretion pattern of melatonin is highly conserved among vertebrates; it is high during the night and low during the daytime. In this way, melatonin acts as the internal neurohormonal signal of darkness and plays a role as a “zeitgeber” (Falcon

Circadian rhythm disorders are interruption in a person’s circadian rhythm which an internal body clock that manage 24-hour cycle of biological growth in animals and plants. The main characteristic of circadian rhythm disorders is a repeated or occasional interruption of sleep patterns. The interruption results from either a failure in the internal body clock or a disparity between the internal body clock and the external environment concerning the period and duration of sleep. As a result of the circadian disparity, individuals may have disruption or interruption to the normal circadian rhythm which cause the patients to experience too much daytime sleepiness, insomnia or both of

         When children hit puberty they experience a delay in their biological block which in turns causes a shift in melatonin. Melatonin is the natural hormone in a person’s body that notifies them if it is time to sleep or time to wake up. A distraction in this can cause many behavior health and mental health issues such as substance abuse, depression or sadly suicide. Only about a tenth of the population actually get the right amount of sleep they need. The minimum amount someone should sleep is eight full hours. In the

The processes engaging in cognition including attention (consciousness, selective and steady attention) may be determined through analysis of active brain section, circadian rhythms and the effects of sleeplessness (Valdez et al, 2008). Developmental changes in the sleep processes, cirdcadian cycle, and inequality of circadian cycles in sleep disorders, circadian rhythms, lead to important consequences for cognitive performance. Generally, if awaking is happened at proper biological times, biological clock’s activity is useful for human’s cognition (attention). But when awakening is happened at improper biological time because of environmental circumstances (jet lag, early school start, long working time, working schedules) or because of disorders in circadian rhythms, then disharmony between circadian and physiological cycles of sleep lead to cognitive disorder (Wright, Lowry, & LeBourgeois, 2012).

The mechanism that regulates sleep is a part of the circadian rhythm. This rhythm acts as a twenty-four-hour biological clock that is found within virtually all living organisms and synchronizes to the rising and setting of the sun. For children and adults — not teens — sleep is usually initiated around 8 or 9 p.m. each night by the release of a hormone called melatonin that induces drowsiness. They are then awoken at about 6 a.m. by another chemical called acetylcholine. However, when a youth begins puberty, the biological clock is shifted. Instead of melatonin being released around 8 or 9 p.m., teens do not begin to feel drowsy until 10 or 11 p.m. This is not something that can be controlled by “just going to bed earlier,” but is instead a much deeper biological process. By going to bed later, teenaged youth are also programmed to wake up later than their child or adult counterparts. This is where the misunderstanding seems to exist.

There are many factors that contribute to the regulation of the circadian rhythm. For the purpose of this essay, focus will be placed on genetic regulation, the role of melatonin, and environmental regulation, with examples discussed in each.

As you struggle to stay wide awake through the late hours of the night, continuously fighting the feeling of heavy eyelids and constant yawns, your body urges to get a good night’s sleep. You may wonder, why does this happen? Within all animals, humans included, resides an internal circadian biological clock that regulates the daily sleep and wake cycle within a period of approximately 24 hours. The clock gene, first isolated in Drosophila, a genus of small flies, has been shown to influence sleeping behaviours such as insomnia (Hamet and Tremblay 2006), the inability to sleep.