Effects of Melatonin Treatment :: Biology Essays Research Papers

http//www.ceri.com/melaton.htmEffects of Melatonin TreatmentIn order to discuss Melatonin as a drug and its effects on behavior we need to circumscribe Melatonin and what role it plays in relation to brain and behavior. Melatonin is a hormone that is secreted into the bloodstream by the pineal gland. The pineal gland is a small, pea coat structure near the center of the brain. Signals from the eyes regulate the secretion of Melatonin. A persons internal clock, leave behind fluctuate between a 23-25 hour a day cycle. Therefore, our Melatonin levels decrease and increase with the rising and setting of the sun, which aid to put an individual on a 24 hour awake/ short sleep cycle.(1) The actual effects of taking Melatonin orally have been disputed for instead some(prenominal) time. Some facts that I had picked up were that Melatonin levels decrease with age. This decline canful account for the difficulty many elderly people have with falling asleep. As the pineal gland breaks d d eliver, less and less Melatonin is being released, wherefore making it more difficult to regulate the internal clock. There is console a lot of information about Melatonin that remains un have a go at itn. There is oft controversy as to what the drug actually can, and does, do. Many people claim that it is capable of extending a persons life, curing insomnia, working as an anti-oxidant, changing a persons mood, de-stressing people, improving ones sexual life, and curing certain types of depression, solely many moot otherwise. (2) I am not thoroughly convinced either track because of the contrasting opinions. I decided to make my own observations and come to my own conclusions by conducting a little experiment of my own. I am dismissal to focus on just the effects of whether or not Melatonin will aid people in getting sleep. Observation has always been a simple way for me to derive whether or not something actually works. except in light of our class discussion, I do not know if that is the most appropriate way to look at things. We have discussed that some behavior is internal and we do not see that on the exterior of the body. But for all intents and purposes, my observations for the effectiveness of Melatonin were external ones. My internal clock is very messed up. I usually sleep until 930 in the morning, but never head off to bed before 3 or 330. So Melatonin looked like a very appealing view to procure a little more sleep.