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I’ve got a fun new thing that you get to stress about if you want. Because a new study has now linked regular melatonin use with the increased risk of heart failure. so one, we should talk about it because you’re going to see this in the news, but also two, because if you’re one of the millions of people who use melatonin all the time, experts say that you shouldn’t panic at least yet. Right, Because specifically, the study analyzed five years of data from over 130,000 adults with an average age of 55 who have been diagnosed with insomnia. within that subset, the researchers found around 65,000 people who had been prescribed melatonin and reported taking it for at least a year. right, Because, well, you or I, we might be able to walk into a drugstore and buy as much as we want over-the-counter, outside of the United States, There are other countries that require prescription, like, for example, the UK. and while notably patient locations weren’t available to the researchers, they did account for a number of other factors that could influence heart failure risk, like various health conditions. and to conduct the study, the researchers compared the health records of those 65,000 people who had been prescribed melatonin with other patients who had insomnia, but no record of taking the supplement. and what they found is that people with a recorded long term melatonin use had about a 90% higher chance of heart failure over five years, compared with non-users. though also, the actual number of people who had heart failure is still relatively low. We’re talking like 4.6% for recorded melatonin users and 2.7% for non-users. but then also beyond that, researchers found that people who took melatonin were nearly three and a half times as likely to be hospitalized for heart failure And nearly twice as likely to die from any cause than those in non-melatonin groups. so you might look at that and get freaked out. Especially because melatonin use has become so prevalent in recent years. right, with many viewing it is a safe, more natural sleep aid. I mean, a 2022 survey found that more than 1 in 4 adults reported taking the supplement to help them to sleep. but also, I’ll say, before you panic, there are a few important things that we need to break down here. first of all, I’ll say that the study hasn’t gone through the rigorous peer review process, so it’s still considered to be preliminary. and then beyond that, the study also had some very significant limitations that could pretty dramatically impact its findings. right, the biggest issue by far, is that the group of people listed as melatonin users were categorized that way only because they were prescribed the medication, and had it noted in their health records. so the data, it doesn’t account for people who could be taking it over-the-counter without a prescription. so it’s very likely that many of the insomniacs who were identified as non-users actually did take melatonin for an extended period, but it just wasn’t in their records, because maybe they live in America or one of the many other countries where you can get it over the counter. right, And all of that, as experts noted that the health records analyzed here lacked important details about the severity of the insomnia among patients and whether those prescribed melatonin reported changes with their sleep patterns. because quality sleep is incredibly important for heart health. research shows that people who get poor sleep, they tend to have higher heart rates and blood pressure and experience more cardiovascular events. so if the patients taking prescription melatonin still were not getting good sleep, it could skew the results.
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Produced by: Cory Ray, Philip DeFranco
Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry
Art Department: William Crespo
Writing/Research: Lili Stenn, Philip DeFranco
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#Melatonin #Sleep #Insomia
