Biomaterial Database

[Melatonin: a new wonder drug?]. 1996

A Wirz-Justice

Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik, Basel.

Melatonin, the hormone of the pineal gland is secreted during the night. It provides temporal information on diurnal and seasonal variation to the brain and the body. It is not a "classical" sleeping pill, and it should not be taken as such. The sole sufficiently investigated indication in humans is the treatment of certain sleep disorders from the group of sleep-wake-rhythm disturbances. These manifest themselves by sleep time of the day, i.e. in shift workers, after flights across time zones and in some blind and aged persons. None of the other promises, i.e. that melatonin conserves youth, prolong life, heals cancer or is a free radicals scavenger, have been confirmed by clinical studies.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008550	Melatonin	A biogenic amine that is found in animals and plants. In mammals, melatonin is produced by the PINEAL GLAND. Its secretion increases in darkness and decreases during exposure to light. Melatonin is implicated in the regulation of SLEEP, mood, and REPRODUCTION. Melatonin is also an effective antioxidant.
D002940	Circadian Rhythm	The regular recurrence, in cycles of about 24 hours, of biological processes or activities, such as sensitivity to drugs or environmental and physiological stimuli.	Diurnal Rhythm,Nyctohemeral Rhythm,Twenty-Four Hour Rhythm,Nycthemeral Rhythm,Circadian Rhythms,Diurnal Rhythms,Nycthemeral Rhythms,Nyctohemeral Rhythms,Rhythm, Circadian,Rhythm, Diurnal,Rhythm, Nycthemeral,Rhythm, Nyctohemeral,Rhythm, Twenty-Four Hour,Rhythms, Circadian,Rhythms, Diurnal,Rhythms, Nycthemeral,Rhythms, Nyctohemeral,Rhythms, Twenty-Four Hour,Twenty Four Hour Rhythm,Twenty-Four Hour Rhythms
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012893	Sleep Wake Disorders	Abnormal sleep-wake schedule or pattern associated with the CIRCADIAN RHYTHM which affect the length, timing, and/or rigidity of the sleep-wake cycle relative to the day-night cycle.	Sleep Disorders,Long Sleeper Syndrome,Short Sleep Phenotype,Short Sleeper Syndrome,Sleep-Related Neurogenic Tachypnea,Subwakefullness Syndrome,Disorder, Sleep,Disorder, Sleep Wake,Disorders, Sleep,Disorders, Sleep Wake,Long Sleeper Syndromes,Neurogenic Tachypnea, Sleep-Related,Neurogenic Tachypneas, Sleep-Related,Phenotype, Short Sleep,Phenotypes, Short Sleep,Short Sleep Phenotypes,Short Sleeper Syndromes,Sleep Disorder,Sleep Phenotypes, Short,Sleep Related Neurogenic Tachypnea,Sleep Wake Disorder,Sleep-Related Neurogenic Tachypneas,Sleeper Syndrome, Long,Sleeper Syndrome, Short,Sleeper Syndromes, Long,Sleeper Syndromes, Short,Subwakefullness Syndromes,Syndrome, Long Sleeper,Syndrome, Short Sleeper,Syndrome, Subwakefullness,Syndromes, Long Sleeper,Syndromes, Short Sleeper,Syndromes, Subwakefullness,Tachypnea, Sleep-Related Neurogenic,Tachypneas, Sleep-Related Neurogenic,Wake Disorder, Sleep,Wake Disorders, Sleep
D014940	Work Schedule Tolerance	Physiological or psychological effects of periods of work which may be fixed or flexible such as flexitime, work shifts, and rotating shifts.	Schedule Tolerance, Work,Schedule Tolerances, Work,Tolerance, Work Schedule,Tolerances, Work Schedule,Work Schedule Tolerances