High dose melatonin increases sleep duration during nighttime and daytime sleep episodes in older adults
Open accessAbstract
Aging is associated with changes in sleep, and improving sleep may have important consequences for the health, cognition, and quality of life of older adults. Many prescription sleep aids increase the risk of nighttime falls, have adverse effects on next-day cognition, and are associated with increased mortality. Melatonin, a hormone secreted at night, increases sleep duration in young adults but only when administered during the day when endogenous levels are low. In a month-long cross-over study, we randomized 24 healthy older (age >55, mean 64.2 ± 6.3 years) participants to receive 2 weeks of placebo and 2 weeks of either a low (0.3 mg) or high (5.0 mg) dose of melatonin 30 min before lights out. Sleep was polysomnographically recorded and was scheduled during both the biological day and night using a forced desynchrony design. Although 0.3 mg melatonin had a trend towards increasing sleep efficiency (SE) overall, this was due to its effects on sleep during the biological day. In contrast, 5 mg melatonin significantly increased SE during both biological day and night, mainly by increasing the duration of Stage 2 non-rapid eye movement sleep and slightly shortening awakenings. Melatonin should be further explored as a sleep aid for older adults.
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Both low (0.3 mg) and high (5 mg) doses of melatonin improved sleep efficiency in healthy older adults.
“Both doses improved sleep efficiency, but the higher dose impacted the biological day and night sleep patterns, the duration of non-REM sleep, and awakening time [93].”
From Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements (2022) · cites this paper as [93]
In 2022, researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital explored low (0.3 mg) and high (5 mg) dose melatonin in a relatively small sample of healthy older adults.
“In 2022, researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital explored low (0.3 mg) and high (5 mg) dose melatonin in a relatively small sample of healthy older adults.”
From Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements (2022) · cites this paper as [93]
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“Both doses improved sleep efficiency, but the higher dose impacted the biological day and night sleep patterns, the duration of non-REM sleep, and awakening time [93].”
Background
- Authors
- Duffy, J. F., Wang, W., Ronda, J. M., & Czeisler, C. A.
- Affiliations
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Duffy, Jeanne F.
- Venue
- Journal of Pineal Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-05-13
- Volume
- 73
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e12801-e12801
- ISSN
- 0742-3098 (ISSN-L)
- 1600-079X
- PMC
- PMC9288519
- OpenAlex
- W4223978973
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 4.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Pineal Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging
- National Institutes of Health
- Brigham Research Institute
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Keywords
- melatonin, sleep duration, older adults, aging and sleep, sleep efficiency, NREM sleep, stage 2 sleep, sleep awakenings, forced desynchrony, circadian rhythm, sleep aids, nocturnal sleep
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Circadian Rhythm, Humans, Melatonin, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Sleep, Cross-Over Studies, Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm
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