What if one way to prevent or even treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS) was as simple as taking a completely non-toxic, natural substance that can be found in any health food store?
That would really be something, because MS affects approximately 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million worldwide. In the U.S., this amounts to about one in every thousand people.
The disease can start anywhere between 10 and 80 years of age, but it usually happens in the 30s.
But no matter when it happens, a new research study is showing that there might be a way to both prevent it or to slow it down with an inexpensive remedy that is completely safe and natural.
The authors of the study note that most patients with MS have sleep disturbances as well as fatigue. Melatonin is a hormone made in the brain that stimulates the sleep cycle. So, they wondered if MS had anything to do with a melatonin deficiency.
The researchers studied 13 MS patients and 12 healthy men and women. They evaluated the quality of their sleep using an actigraphy device that measured how often they moved in their sleep. They also evaluated their melatonin levels by measuring the melatonin metabolite 6-sulphatoxy-melatonin (6-SMT) in their urine. The higher the levels of 6-SMT are, the higher the melatonin levels are. Here’s what they discovered.
The MS patients had a significantly lower quality of sleep than those without the disease. They also had significantly lower levels of 6-SMT. And here’s the really interesting thing. One of the treatments for MS involves injections of the cytokine IFN-β (interferon beta). And when the patients were given IFN-β treatments, guess what happened. Their sleep improved and their levels of 6-SMT increased.
The researchers concluded their findings by suggesting that the increase in melatonin caused by the IFN-β injections might be the way that IFN-β therapy works. Well, if that’s the case, why not just take some melatonin? It’s a lot safer and infinitely less expensive than IFN-β. And it might work just as well. Additionally, the IFN-β treatments might be even more effective when combined with a melatonin supplement.
I would start with 20 mg of melatonin taken about 45 minutes before bed and work up to 60 mg. But be sure to get pure melatonin and not timed release. Any impurities in the melatonin or the time release forms can cause some symptoms such as sleep disturbances. Allergy Research Group makes a good 20 mg melatonin capsule, which you can buy online. You can find other high-quality, high-dose melatonin products online as well, including Amazon.
Next week, I’ll tell you about an amazing treatment that can work miracles on MS and many other ailments.
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
REF: Melamud, L., D. Golan, et al. “Melatonin dysregulation, sleep disturbances and fatigue in multiple sclerosis.” J Neurol Sci. 2012 March 15;314(1-2):37-40.