My wife and son have been taking melatonin for years. I guess I call our doctor now and say 'hey what do we do?'
Long-Term Melatonin Use Linked to Higher Heart Failure Risk
The main analysis found:
- Among adults with insomnia, those whose electronic health records indicated long-term melatonin use (12 months or more) had about a 90% higher chance of incident heart failure over 5 years compared with matched non-users (4.6% vs. 2.7%, respectively).
- There was a similar result (82% higher) when researchers analyzed people who had at least 2 melatonin prescriptions filled at least 90 days apart. (Melatonin is only available by prescription in the United Kingdom.)
A secondary analysis found:
- Participants taking melatonin were nearly 3.5 times as likely to be hospitalized for heart failure when compared to those not taking melatonin (19.0% vs. 6.6%, respectively).
- Participants in the melatonin group were nearly twice as likely to die from any cause than those in the non-melatonin group (7.8% vs. 4.3%, respectively) over the 5-year period.
“Melatonin supplements are widely thought of as a safe and ‘natural’ option to support better sleep, so it was striking to see such consistent and significant increases in serious health outcomes, even after balancing for many other risk factors.”
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2 comments:
Alas, yes, I have previously read that melatonin is recommended for short-term use only, like to cope with jet lag from a trip or something. Let's hope the increased risk factors won't affect your wife and son. But calling the doctor is probably a good idea, I would think. Plus they'll have to do something else about their sleep issues.
I tried using melatonin for sleep issues, but it didn't do much for me. Now I have one less thing to worry about.
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