OT: Wake up call

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:53:52 -0600, OmManiPadmeOmelet

Anecdotally, of course, for the side effects as well as effectiveness.

You might want to read this from the NY Times.

Alternatives: Evidence Is Slight for Melatonin as Sleeping Aid By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Although melatonin is widely used as a sleep aid, a review of the research says there is little evidence that it works, either for jet lag, shift work or sleep difficulty caused by other medical or psychiatric problems.

The review, published online Feb. 9 in BMJ ÷ Online First, analyzed 25 controlled trials that tested melatonin against placebos for various kinds of sleep disorders. The researchers performed a statistical analysis to combine the results.

In six trials reporting on the amount of time spent asleep as a proportion of time spent in bed, they found a small but clinically insignificant effect: melatonin increased the amount of time people slept by about 10 minutes for eight hours spent in bed.

In studies of those who had sleep problems caused by jet lag or shift work, the researchers found no difference at all in the effectiveness of melatonin compared to a placebo.

Still, there was some good news for proponents of melatonin. The side effects it caused ÷ most commonly headaches, dizziness, nausea and drowsiness ÷ were no different from those caused by a placebo.

The researchers concluded that, at least with short-term use, melatonin is safe, even if it is ineffective. They stress, however, that they found very little information about long-term safety.

Nina Buscemi, the lead author of the study and a research buttociate at the University of Alberta, made no specific treatment recommendations.

"What I hope will come out of this," Dr. Buscemi said, "is for people to look at the evidence when they're making decisions about whether or not to use melatonin."