>>> ' More men than women are diagnosed with PD by a ratio of approximately 2:1 (1-3), and while this ratio suggests the presence of sex and gender differences in PD, the differences between men and women in symptoms, course, and cognitive effects have not been extensively examined. ' <<<
It has been shown in studies that people with PD have reduced melatonin receptors in the Substantia Nigra :
>>> ' PD patients showed a decreased density of MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors in the substantia nigra and amygdala (Adi et al., 2010b) a finding that led to the assumption that an altered melatonergic system could underlie the altered sleep/wake cycle observed in PD. ' <<<
It has also been shown that people with PD have lower levels of melatonin in their brains :
>>> ' Interestingly, neurodegenerative disorders such as AD and PD are associated with impaired brain expression of both melatonin and α7nAchR [70–73] and disruption of nocturnal melatonin rhythm [74–76].
It is interesting that men get PD at a 2:1 rate over women and it is also very interesting that women have shown an almost 50% higher plasma melatonin level than men :
>>> ' Females, however, exhibited significantly greater levels of plasma melatonin and cortisol than males (AUC melatonin: 937 ± 104 (mean ± SEM) vs. 642 ± 47 pg/ml.h; AUC cortisol: 13581 ± 1313 vs. 7340 ± 368 mmol/L.h). ' <<<
That is really quite an interesting coincidence that women have almost 50% more plasma melatonin than men, while men have a 2 times greater chance of getting PD than women.
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This made a question come into my mind. It would be interesting to find out if a history of shift work and /or long hours of work could contribute to this.
Good question! Night shiftwork does lead to reduced melatonin levels and it is thought to also increase the risk of cancer, but the following study suggesting that nurses with at least 15 years of night shift work had a 50% less chance of getting PD :
>>> ' Compared with nurses who never worked rotating night shifts, those with 15 years or more of night shift work had a 50% lower risk of Parkinson's disease after adjustment for age and smoking (95% confidence interval: 0.26, 0.97; p(trend) = 0.01). ' <<<
>>> ' These data suggest that working night shifts may be protective against Parkinson's disease or that low tolerance for night shift work is an early marker of Parkinson's disease. '<<<
So this study suggests that chances of getting PD are significantly decreased for night shift workers
My husband with Parkinsons had to work really weird shifts and at times 12 hour shifts and was sleep deprived for many years so that was how I started to think this. He did not really work a standard graveyard shift. He had a very early start time for several years but it probably would not be characterized as being graveyard like starting at 3 a.m. and working 8 to 10 hours and also shifts that started at 5 a.m. and often ran for 12 hours.The shifts were fairly stable for the duration with no moving from one type of shift to another like not a rotating shift from week to week. It just seemed logical to me that this would probably not have a good effect on the melatonin situation.
I just want to also mention how we, today, are exposed to 100 million times more EMFs than our grandparents and the fact that EMFs destroy our production of melatonin.
Animals use their cryptochrome pigments for both magnetic and solar navigation.
They also control the activity of the immune system. Weak electromagnetic fields can
affect all of these functions with disastrous consequences.
Here are some pdf files concerning how our bee and bird populations or dramatically decreasing. Search domain ecfsapi.fcc.govecfsapi.fcc.gov › file › 7520958012.pdf and Search domain stopumts.nlstopumts.nl › pdf › The birds the bees and electromagnetic pollution (1).pdf
As the bees and birds go so do we. My husband, besides being a male, was also exposed to more EMFs than I as he installed WIFI for three years. I think this was a contributing factor for him coming down with Parkinson's.
This is just one of the reasons that I take high dose melatonin and get morning sun exposure to further increase my melatonin levels to reduce oxidative stress, protect the mitochondria and consequently the cells where those mitochondria exist.
I have been taking at least 30 mg of melatonin for many years and last year I completed taking at least 106 mg/day for a year and I am now on 120 + mg/day.
So what is your goal? It appears that you are gradually increasing your amount. Are you familiar with Dr. Frank Shallenberger? He, himself takes 180 mg before bed. Here is a link on him and other doctors who recommend high dose melatonin. Search domain aging-matters.comaging-matters.com › melatonin-stops-cancer
My husband started on high doses as recommended by Dr. Klinghardt.
My goal is to try and avail myself of all of the health benefits that melatonin has to offer of which I have written extensively on this forum about some of those benefits in order to share this information with the forum members. One of my main uses currently is as a potential Covid-19 preventative and treatment. My reasoning is that melatonin levels decline with age and with that decline comes the onset of age related diseases. In the case of PD, melatonin levels and melatonin receptors decline further beyond the normal age related decline seen in healthy controls.
I am currently at 120 mg+/day and may go higher as studies further elucidate the most effective dosing levels. A recent 250 mg/day study confirms that melatonin has heart protective effects in type 2 diabetic patients.
I am familiar with Dr. Shallenberger and mention him in some of my posts. He was introduced to melatonin and its health benefits through Dr. Reiter who has researched melatonin for over 50 years and has been involved in hundreds of melatonin studies around the world.
I have been writing more on alternative ways of getting melatonin because some people do not tolerate supplemental melatonin, but the alternative means of getting melatonin seem to be side effect free and this is important for those who can not tolerate melatonin in supplement form.
After I read this post and commented here I saw a video that claimed that melatonin could reduce dopamine which makes me wonder. To your knowledge are people with Parkinson's taking relatively high doses of melatonin seeing benefits and if so what are the benefits? My husband was taking a low dose of melatonin as part of a protocol to get rid of GERD. He seems to be free of GERD now but he is also taking natural supplements designed to help with GERD. As far as you know are the people who are taking the high dose melatonin also taking levodopa or some kind of dopamine replacement therapy? There are several articles that suggest high doses of melatonin would have an effect on other hormones but I have not found a lot of specifics so far. Are there any studies on people who take melatonin and the number of covid infections they have had?
That's a few questions. Several people on the forum have mentioned they are taking high dose melatonin (HDM), but one person's HDM can be very different than another persons, similarly to HDT. And nobody talks about it a lot other than me, so it is hard to know if they find benefit or not.
Regarding the safety of ultra high dose melatonin, a study used 3000 mg/day of melatonin in women for 6 months. So when I say that I wish they would do a study in PwP using 200 - 500 mg /day , I do not consider that unreasonable. Unlikely, yes, but not unreasonable.
Jim recently mentioned that he is taking 60 mg/day and I believe he is also taking levodopa. He said he is doing quite well, but he is taking many things so he has no idea what is helping him, just that he is definitely feeling better, I think he said than a year ago.
Melatonin in at least one study showed that it was beneficial for GERD and it did get rid of my GERD.
Dr. Reiter once stated that he does not believe that melatonin is a hormone, but he offered no proof to support his claim.
In studies 10 mg/day and 50 mg/day showed benefit in PwP. The 50 mg dose returned elevated oxidative stress levels to healthy control levels, so that would be right in the dose range that Jim is taking of 60 mg.
This is helpful information just because the protocol my husband was taking for GERD was 6 mg. So did you also take methionine, tryptophan, and methylfolate?
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