Insomnia is a worldwide epidemic. How can I fix it?
Why do we have trouble falling asleep? Atlantic staff writer Jennifer Sr. shares her experience with insomnia and how she tried to deal with it.
Common solutions to insomnia can have negative effects on your health.
Preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in November shows that continuous intake of melatonin supplements, commonly used to promote sleep and combat insomnia, increases the risk of heart failure diagnosis, heart failure hospitalization, and death from any cause in chronic insomnia.
Among more than 100,000 adults diagnosed with insomnia, those who consistently used melatonin were 90% more likely to develop heart failure over five years than non-users. Those who took melatonin were almost 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than those who did not take the supplement. The study cautions that there is still no direct link between melatonin and heart disease.
But “eratonin supplements may not be as harmless as commonly thought. If confirmed, our study could influence how physicians counsel patients about sleep aids,” said Ekenedrichukwu-Nnadi, the study’s lead author and chief resident in internal medicine at the State University of New York Downstate/Kings County Primary Care in Brooklyn, New York.
What is melatonin and how does it work?
Melatonin is a natural hormone produced in our bodies that helps regulate waking up and falling asleep. The pineal gland in our brain releases melatonin to let us know it’s time to reverse the day’s activities, switching our body temperature, mood, and blood pressure into sleep mode.
Many Americans need help with this natural sleep process. Approximately 10% of adults meet the criteria for insomnia. This means you’re not getting enough or quality sleep (adults need 7-8 hours of sleep). So they take melatonin tablets at bedtime to help the brain calm down quickly.
Melatonin may provide short-term relief from tossing and turning (melatonin stays in your body for about 4 or 5 hours). However, physician guidelines say there is not enough evidence to suggest that melatonin supplements will actually reverse chronic insomnia. And the overall safety of supplements has been unknown for years. In the United States, melatonin is considered a dietary supplement. This means that unlike other countries, it is not regulated like prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
What should I do to fall asleep?
Although the study does not prove that melatonin causes heart disease, it reflects new concerns about the supplement, which has seen increased use in recent years. According to the National Institutes of Health, melatonin use among U.S. adults increased from 0.4% in 1999-2000 to 2.1% in 2017-2018.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, sleep deprivation can increase your risk for things like high blood pressure and heart attack.
“The association we found raises safety concerns about widely used supplements, but our study cannot prove direct causation,” Nadi says. “This means further research is needed to test melatonin’s cardiac safety.”
So what should you do if you really want to sleep? Chronic insomnia can be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy, and experts also recommend turning off bright screens when relaxing. Instead of scrolling, read or meditate to naturally revitalize your sleep cycle and ensure quality rest.
