>From Dr. Jonathan V. Wright's "Nutrition & Healing" Vol. 13, Issue 10, December 2006
Sleep your way to cancer prevention By Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. It's likely you will experience a sleepless night now and then. But as you get older, it's not uncommon for those occasional nights to become the norm. It can be annoying or inconvenient but in reality it's a lot more serious than you might think: All those sleepless nights are actually increasing your risk of developing breast cancer or possibly prostate cancer. That's because while you're sleeping, your body produces melatonin, a hormone that research has shown inhibits the growth of cancer cells. Technically, sleep itself doesn't produce melatonin (commonly known as the "sleep hormone"). Instead, the production of melatonin is encouraged by darkness and conversely, it's actually suppressed by the light. For some time now, we've known that women who work at night and especially women who work rotating shifts have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. It makes sense when you think about it: Rotating shift workers have the greatest disruption in their normal "sleep/wake" cycles, so their melatonin production is more affected than it is in women who work day shifts. It's a logical connection, but obviously it isn't solid proof. But just last year, researchers established more definitive evidence of the connection. A study published in March found that melatonin inhibits an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme is used by both men and women to make estradiol and other estrogens. Higher concentrations of estradiol have been connected to a higher incidence of breast cancer. So when estradiol is inhibited, the development of breast cancer is also inhibited, at least theoretically. And in fact, the researchers found that melatonin plays a very particular role in combating a certain strain of breast cancer cells.1 Melatonin's activity at physiologic concentrations (those normally present in our bodies) as opposed to larger than normal levels is particularly important. Two months later, a study published in the Journal of Pineal Research showed that melatonin exhibits three types of anti- estrogenic activity: It interferes with the effects of various estrogens on estrogen receptors, it interferes with the synthesis of estrogens, and finally, it reduces the circulating levels of estradiol.2 The definitive link In December 2005, Cancer Research published a study that presented what's considered to be smoking-gun proof that the melatonin molecule itself has anti-cancer activity.3 Researchers collected blood samples from three groups of healthy, pre-menopausal female volunteers: The women in the first group had blood drawn during the day, those in the second group had it drawn at night when there was no exposure to light, and those in the third group had it drawn at night after they had been exposed to 90 minutes of bright, white fluorescent light. These various blood specimens were then exposed to both human breast cancers and rat liver cancers (hepatomas). The tumors exposed to both types of melatonin-deficient blood (daytime specimens and night-time specimens collected after bright light exposure) had a high rate of multiplication among the cancer cells. On the other hand, exposure to melatonin-rich blood (the sample collected at night with no light exposure) significantly suppressed the rate at which the cancer cells multiplied. Various commentaries cited this research as the needed proof that melatonin reduces breast cancer risk and conversely, that a lack of melatonin increases breast cancer risk. That's great news for the ladies, but the men haven't been left out completely research on their situation has just been slower in coming. Just a few months ago, Japanese researchers reported the first study to show that prostate cancer is also very likely suppressed by melatonin. Using statistics from 14,502 men, they found that rotating shift workers were three times more likely to develop prostate cancer than day shift workers. Unlike the studies on breast cancer, this study is not yet considered "proof" that melatonin reduces prostate cancer risk or that a lack of melatonin increases the risk. However, I don't need to go very far "out on a limb" to predict that this is exactly what will be found with enough further investigation. The research involving men, melatonin, and prostate cancer is headed down the same road that research for women, melatonin, and breast cancer has already traveled. But just because there isn't definitive proof yet doesn't mean you can't do something about it. After all, by the time absolute proof is obtained, you and I will be several years older (possibly a decade or more), and by then it could be too late. It's true that there are certain details we don't know like how much you should take in order to reduce the risk of breast cancer or prostate cancer or at what age you should start supplementing. But there are lots of things we do know about melatonin that can serve as a guide. All of the studies on melatonin show that it is quite safe. Even when it was used in very large quantities (one study used 70 mg nightly), the only adverse effect that occurred at a greater rate than in the placebo group was drowsiness (which makes sense when you consider that it's a hormone that encourages sleep). But to avoid that, just reduce the quantity of melatonin you're taking. Children and younger adults make enough melatonin of their own, so you probably don't need to start taking it as a regular supplement until you're at least 40 to 45 years old. Determining the best dosage is really based on how your body responds to it. If you're having difficulty sleeping, the best dosage for you is the smallest amount needed to provide that improvement in your sleep. Melatonin doesn't work for everyone, though. There are a significant number of people whose sleep difficulties are not at all helped by taking melatonin. If you fit into this category, don't give up before you try opening the melatonin capsule and placing the contents under your tongue. For some, this works even when swallowing the capsule whole doesn't. But in the end, if neither method helps you get some much needed shut-eye, you should still supplement with it in order to reduce your risk of developing breast cancer or (very likely) prostate cancer. I recommend taking 1 to 3 mg daily. (Our bodies actually produce substantially less than 1 milligram daily internally, but, of course, absorption from "the outside" is always substantially less than 100 percent, frequently less than 10 percent.) As always, if you have any health problems, consult a physician skilled and knowledgeable in nutritional medicine and bio-identical hormone replacement (melatonin is a bio-identical hormone) before deciding on a long-term replacement program. JVW -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: [email protected] Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
