On Wednesday, July 21, 1999 5:46 AM Alex Future Bokov <alexboko@umich.edu>
wrote:
> > > Anyone else heard of this?
> > >
> > > http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19990427024417data_trunc_sys.shtml
> > (talks about possible mood altering / psychological effects of
> > melatonin)
>
> Well, that article merely says that Melatonin metabolizes into two
> "neurotransmitter-like" molecules whose function is unknown, but that do
> elicit a neurological response. Presumably, this isn't something
> completely alien to your body, just maybe a higher dose of it than you're
> used to.
That's what I thought, though there could be a threshold effect at work here. I.e., perhaps internally produced melatonin isn't sitting around long enough to produce this "neurotransmitter-like" substances. Only shows the need for more research, though I'm not afraid of taking the stuff given that all other studies show beneficial effects.
> Futhermore, if you're in your forties or older, your nascent
> melatonin levels have started declining, and moderate supplementation
> merely brings them up to youthful (and IMO healthier) levels.
I agree, though I've got a long way to go until I'm in my forties AND I hope by then we'll have lots of better solutons to the aging process.:)
> I sometimes take melatonin, and apart from vivid dreems, deep sleep, and
> waking up more energetic than I normally do, I've experienced no side
> effects so far. YMMV
I pretty much have the same experience, though I've noticed that if I take it (I don't use it regularly) that I have to get about 7 hours or more sleep on one dose (1 mg) else I feel wasted the next day. Other friends of mine who've used it (who are also in the 20 something age range) have reported this too.
> I might look into this further and put up a review of melatonin research
> on GerOL (in colloquial english, with cross references to an online
> dictionary as usual). Just as soon as I'm done with my review of Tyler
> Parr's work on a unified aging theory. If anyone knows of any melatonin
> material, feel free to post.
That's great! Keep updating us!
Cheers!
Daniel Ust
See my latest updates at:
http://mars.superlink.net/neptune/