In this chart above, you can see that by age 50, melatonin levels have declined to the level of a newborn which is quite low when compared to the peak seen in childhood. In the following link, there is a chart that you have to scroll down to page 8 to see and it shows how the incidence of PD increases with age. Interestingly, the incidence of PD starts to increase noticeably from age 50.
Middle age is when diabetes diagnoses really start to spike. An estimated 14% of Americans ages 45 to 64, or 11 million people, are diagnosed with type 2. That’s almost five times the rate for those 18 to 44.
Risk increases significantly after age 50, and half of all cancers occur at age 66 and above. According to the National Cancer Institute, one quarter of new cancer diagnoses are in people aged 65 to 74. Refer to the chart above to see where melatonin levels are at this age range.
Hi Chartist, what could be a right Melatonin supplementation for me of 66 years with PD for 4 years? I specify that I have never had any problems with sleep. Thanks
I think the best way to get more melatonin is by increasing short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as they have shown to increase melatonin and melatonin receptor production in the gut and this way is how the body normally increases melatonin production in the gut.
This way also seems to prevent the negative reactions that people experience from melatonin supplementing.
PwP, unfortunately are low on SCFAs, SCFA producing bacteria, melatonin and melatonin receptors in the gut. SCFAs, melatonin and melatonin receptors play a crucial role in reducing gut inflammation and excess oxidative stress in the gut as well as repair the gut mucosal barrier function and protect the endothelial cells and tight junctions all adding up to reduced gut permeability. Leaky gut increases inflammation and oxidative stress which has a negative impact on health throughout the body and can feed multiple disease states including PD. Reducing oxidative stress and inflammation to healthy control levels is highly desirable to promote health in a similar way to FMT. So essentially you are trying to stimulate the body to do what it used to do naturally to keep you healthy.
You may find my reply to rebtar useful also and I previously wrote about Osteoporosis, Osteopenia and melatonin because PwP are at increased risk for both. You can read that one here:
Hi Art, revisiting ways to increase melatonin without supplementing. Increasing SCFA via food looks to be more difficult if you are trying to avoid gluten and increasing glutamate. Tart cherries and pistaschios are good, but my husband is overweight. I guess the best way would be via supplement buytrate.
I have a list of multiple healthful ways to increase SCFAs and I have posted it on this forum previously. I will look for it and repost it where it will be easier to find in the future.
Thank you Art!!! That is very interesting!!! Yes, we have added Melatonin to our stack at your previous encouragement. I was working my hwp’s dosage up and when we got up to 60 mg he developed a slight rash on his arms. I developed the rash on my arms at 30 mg. We have it a rest and are now working our way back up to 50 mg for my husband. The melatonin was the only thing we could tie the rash to which did clear up when we stopped.
We are taking it very slow now and he’s only back up to 35 mg.
Have you heard of melatonin causing a rash from too much?
I am glad to say that he has never had a problem with sleep do we are relying on the “unseen” benefits!!
Art, what do you know re: melatonin and bone healing? There was a British study that showed melatonin contributed to bone density but also increased risk of fracture and impaired bone healing.
In the first study (2016) they do not give dosing values for melatonin, but they are prescribing it for sleep, so it is likely to be 5 mgs or less, a dose that is only likely to be useful for sleep and not for increasing bone density.
In the second study(2012) it was only 5 weeks of supplementing. When drugs are given for osteopenia or osteoporosis, improvements in bone density are not expected to be seen for a year or more. It was a high dose study, but I do not think it was a reasonable expectation to think that much if any changes were going to be seen at two weeks or five weeks.
In these first two studies, there is no consideration given to the other factors that help promote bone density such as vitamin D, magnesium, vitamin K2, calcium etc. Melatonin is good for body and bones, but it can not compensate for deficiencies in the other promoters of bone health and to assume that it can is folly.
The third item you listed is not a study, but rather Consumer Labs opinion which is probably based on the first two studies you listed which are questionable studies in terms of accuracy or dosing.
The fourth study (2013) is actually a review and just gives detailed information on how melatonin interacts with bone and teeth suggesting that the evidence is not yet clear enough to make a decision in 2013 whether melatonin can increase bone density and strength.
Your last review link is the newest (2018) of all of your links and goes into significant detail on how melatonin works to improve bone status and suggests that melatonin is bone protective and promotes healthy bones through its multiple activities related to bone density and strength.
Lastly, I have written about melatonin and osteopenia and osteoporosis and you may find it interesting reading if you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, which by the way, PwP are at increased risk for. Here is a link to what I wrote :
Thanks Art for the detail on melatonin. I’ve been taking 10 mg chewable tablet before bed for sleep off and on as needed. As a PWP it has been quite helpful. I now have a cancer recurrence and take anti hormonal medication that causes osteoporosis. It’s good to know that melatonin is helpful for this issue as well as for insomnia, especially since I’ll be on the anti hormonal medication for the indefinite future. I also take D3 and magnesium.
I haven't seen you post in awhile. You might also consider adding boron, calcium and vitamin K2 if your doctor approves them and that they are compatible with your meds, to help protect your bones.
Thanks, Art! I will ask the oncologist. All of my doctors are aware of every supplement that I take. It helps that they are all in the same hospital system.
My mother passed away at 90. Until she passed away, she never experienced insomnia, she loved to sleep! I am the same way (guess I inherited her DNA), and even 1mg Melatonin that I tried, it made me very groggy the following day. So I decided that Melatonin was not for me. I do have osteopenia, and I would love to take Melatonin, but I just can't function the next day even at 1mg.
The only ways around your sensitivity is suppository delivery, injection or increasing SCFAs to try and generate more melatonin in the gut that way as those three methods are not supposed to cause that effect. I guess I am lucky in that the melatonin hangover was minimal for me and diminished with time, but my preference would be to try and stimulate melatonin production via SCFAs.
A significant increase in fiber or prebiotics can increase SCFAs. Pistachios increase some of the SCFA producing bacteria, and pistachios also supply the needed fiber to feed the bacteria. EGCG increases SCFAs, but some people can damage their livers with EGCG. Melatonin is thought to produce bacteria in the gut capable of producing SCFAs when fed with the right type of fermentable fiber or prebiotic such as mannitol, GOS or FOS. Exercise increases SCFAs. Fasting is also supposed to increase SCFA producing bacteria. FMT increases both melatonin and SCFAs in the gut. Lactulose, a prescription medication, increases SCFAs. Fermented foods can increase SCFAs.
Along these same lines, this supplement may also be useful especially for PwP as the study suggests that this supplement may replace or increase some of the bacteria that PwP tend to be low on. This is a copy and paste of a previous reply I made in another thread.
I was just reading this Australian study that seems interesting in terms of gut repair. In the study they used a formulation of ingredients that are thought to improve gut dysbiosis and their results were pretty impressive. Interestingly, the gut bacteria that this formulation increased are some of the same bacteria that are lacking in PwP. The formulation contains the following ingredients :
I take the gut biome aspect of PD very seriously since those FMT/PwP studies came out. Their outcome was much better than I had expected them to be and to me, clearly showed that repairing the gut biome is a worthwhile pursuit for PwP and should be a main focus in PD research as well as many other health issues.
yes, i have similar problems with anything over 5mgs. is it a matter of building up tolerance or is there something else going on here? any thoughs on this, art? anyone?
Fortunately SCFAs and SCFA producing bacteria are a good way to stimulate the production of melatonin and melatonin receptors in a natural way without having to actually supplement melatonin and the natural way does not seem to have side effects other than improved gut health and health in general!
In recent studies it is mentioned that gut dysbiosis is potentially another age related health issue where the incidence seems to increase with age. Here are two typical reviews suggesting a connection with aging and gut dysbiosis :
As discussed in this thread melatonin declines with age especially from 50 years of age and beyond. On the other hand, melatonin is known to suppress gut dysbiosis as discussed here:
This important study goes into detail on the interaction of melatonin and the SCFA, butyrate in the gut and their multiple health promoting effects that should help to ameliorate gut dysbiosis and promote health.
This new study (March 2022) adds further confirmation to the idea that neurodegenerative and age related diseases in general, increase as melatonin levels decline with aging.
>>> ' After the ventricular melatonin enters the subarachnoid and Virchow-Robin spaces it is taken into the neural tissue where it functions as a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Experimental evidence indicates that it removes pathogenic toxins, e.g., amyloid-β and others, from the brain to protect against neurocognitive decline. Melatonin levels drop markedly during aging, coincident with the development of several neurodegenerative diseases and the accumulation of the associated neurotoxins. ' <<<
This is another interesting coincidence that further elucidates the myriad of protective mechanisms of melatonin and then essentially begs the question, "what happens if you gradually reduce all of these protective effects of melatonin over decades as would be the exact case with the known and established age related decline of melatonin"?
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I am the same way (guess I inherited her DNA), and even 1mg Melatonin that I tried, it made me very groggy the following day. So I decided that Melatonin was not for me. I do have osteopenia, and I would love to take Melatonin, but I just can't function the next day even at 1mg. 
