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Melatonin: can America's favorite natural sleep aid also increase your odds of beating cancer? maybe--and that's not all.(CLOSE UP)
Since being identified as the "sleep hormone" in the '90s, countless Americans have counted on melatonin--a natural hormone that is part of the body's internal clockworks--to put an end to sleepless nights, groggy mornings, jet lag and age-related insomnia. Now, researchers are learning that there's more to this hormone than just a few zzz's.
Perhaps the most intriguing research concerns its potential to help inhibit the growth and spread of breast cancer, and possibly help prevent it. "There's compelling evidence that melatonin enhances the effectiveness of common cancer therapies, particularly the breast cancer drug tamoxifen," says Dave Blask, MD, PhD, senior research scientist at the Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown, New York. Other studies show that when combined with certain toxic cancer treatments, melatonin seems to protect the healthy white blood cells and other tissues from damage.
In regard to prevention, studies have found that women who work the night shift and thus are frequently exposed to long hours of light have lower melatonin levels and a higher risk of breast cancer. Although the reason for this is currently unknown, scientists postulate that lower melatonin levels due to light exposure at night--the hormone is secreted in darkness--may be the culprit. This fits with a study published in the July 2005 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which found that women with higher melatonin levels are less likely to have breast cancer while those with lower levels are at greater risk.
There may be at least two reasons for these effects. First, researchers suspect that melatonin acts like an antiestrogenic drug--that is, it interferes with overexposure to estrogen, which is linked to breast cancer. Second, some experts speculate that lack of sleep coupled with "light pollution"--extended exposure to light, whether natural or man-made--may be at least partially responsible ...
- Study finds no link between melatonin levels and decreased cancer risk.
- Magazine article from: Women's Health Weekly April 8, 2004 700+ words
...the hormone melatonin and decreased breast cancer risk in women was found in a study...protective role in the development of breast cancer, but results from several human studies...urine of 127 patients diagnosed with breast cancer with those of 353 control women to...
- Melatonin and breast cancer: a prospective study.(Abstracts of Interest)(Brief...
- Magazine article from: Original Internist Huber, Luke June 1, 2004 700+ words
...the relationship between melatonin levels and breast cancer risk. The authors report...melatonin in the development of breast cancer, but the few human studies...patients diagnosed with breast cancer were compared to 353 matched...
- EXPOSURE TO LIGHT AT NIGHT INCREASES THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER.
- Newspaper article from: HealthFacts Napoli, Maryann November 1, 2001 700+ words
...lower rate of breast cancer, as compared...light, their melatonin levels remain constant...showed that the breast cancer risk was increased...the night when melatonin levels are typically...period when melatonin levels are usually highest...approximately ...
- Breast cancer risk rises with night-shift hours. (Melatonin Implicated).
- Magazine article from: OB GYN News Moon, Mary Ann December 1, 2001 700+ words
...night when melatonin levels typically peak...increase in breast cancer risk for every...history of breast cancer, and use of...retina, and melatonin levels typically peak...to light and breast cancer risk.
- Breast Cancer Risk in Women who Work at Night.
- Magazine article from: Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients Hudson, Tori May 1, 2001 700+ words
...association between breast cancer risk and night time...in relative risk for breast cancer such as nurses, flight...result then is decreased melatonin levels in the blood. Hanson J. Increased breast cancer risk among women who...
- Eight-Plus Hours Sleep Reduces Women's Breast Cancer Risk.
- News wire article from: AScribe Health News Service October 14, 2005 700+ words
...one third the risk of breast cancer over the next 20 years...a larger theory of breast cancer which suggests that...night leads to lowered melatonin levels, which increase the...important risk factor for breast cancer. "This is very strong...
- It's Not Nice to Ignore Mother Nature: Night Workers May Pay a Price.
- Magazine article from: Internal Medicine Alert May 29, 2001 700+ words
...increased rates of breast cancer. What is new and important...relationship of night work to breast cancer, and that it controlled...light decreases blood melatonin levels, [12] and melatonin suppresses human breast cancer cell growth. [13...
- GP CLINICAL: Alcohol, child wheeze and heart failure.
- Magazine article from: GP Hunter, Suzanne November 10, 2003 700+ words
...Electric blankets and breast cancer - Epidemiology 2003...can lead to a rise in breast cancer. Electric blankets were...could inhibit nocturnal melatonin levels, and that this might induce breast cancer. Well, panic over...
- Presenters at Arizona Meeting Say Light at Night Harms Health, Disrupts Sleep.
- Newspaper article from: The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Arizona) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News) March 18, 2002 700+ words
...People who work night shifts in artificial light suffer the most disruption in melatonin levels, Pauley said. Five recent studies linked increased breast cancer rates to night-shift work, he said. -- Glare and too much lighting also create...
- Melatonin in pathogenesis and therapy of cancer.(Practitioners section)
- Magazine article from: Indian Journal of Medical Sciences Ravindra, T. Lakshmi, N. Ahuja, Y. December 1, 2006 700+ words
...investigation, particularly in breast cancer, melanoma, colon cancer...the increased incidence of breast cancer and childhood leukaemia...melatonin have been observed. Melatonin levels influence different stages...progression particularly in breast cancer,[12] brain ...
