When normal melatonin production is disrupted

Nurses and other women who work regular night shifts have a higher risk of colon cancer, according to a study. Lack of the natural hormone melatonin is one of the implicated mechanisms.

The study, made by researchers from the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, confirmed earlier studies which said that women who work graveyard shifts may be at higher risk of having colon and breast cancer.

The study enrolled 78,586 women in a long-running program called the Nurses’ Health Study. The result of the study showed that nurses who worked night shifts at least three times a month for 15 years or more had a 35 percent greater risk of colon or rectal cancer.

Shift work disrupts normal melatonin production while increasing levels of other hormones such as estrogen. In most cases, women’s cancers are often linked to estrogen, but Dr. Eva Schernhammer, the main author of the study, said melatonin may play a more important role.

Melatonin is produced at night and regular exposure to sunlight affects its production cycle. Artificial light suppresses melatonin production.

"Melatonin has well-established anticarcinogenic properties, and a link between exposure at night and cancer risk through the melatonin pathway could offer one plausible explanation for the increased risk we observed," the study said.

Foreign and local experts are now considering supplementation with melatonin, a popularly used food supplement which improves the quality of sleep, to help prevent the development of cancer.

One’s melatonin level is at its peak at six years of age. The first sharp decline is after puberty when one is about 16 years old. Adults at age 45 secrete only half as much as children.

When one becomes 80, melatonin production comes in trickles. This is the reason why we seem to sleep less as we grow older. Many think this is normal. But the low levels of melatonin may very well explain why the elderly have increased number of pains and degenerative illnesses.

The Philippine distributor of Melatonin-T, Trianon International, endorses it as "an aid to sleep problems, making one enjoy deep, restful sleep and waking up the next day feeling relaxed."

It is not promoting it for its other reported beneficial effects, including helping prevent cancer and rapid aging, and preservation of sexual function in men.

Trianon Melatonin-T is classified as an over-the-counter food supplement, and is available in Mercury and Watson Drug stores nationwide.

Francis Melegrito, Trianon sales and marketing director, said the company welcomes provincial distributors for Melatonin-T and its other products. Call 815-3239 or 892-0723/24 for more information.