According to a report in an issue of Hypertension, supplementation with Melatonin, a hormone which occurs naturally in the body, may provide a new approach to treating High Blood Pressure.
16 men with untreated Hypertension, (High Blood Pressure with no known cause), were given either a 2.5 mg dose of oral Melatonin or a placebo one hour prior to sleep. The study lasted for 3 weeks. Researchers compared the effect of the three week regimen to taking Melatonin only on one day.
Researchers found that participants who took the repeated Melatonin over the 3 week period had lower night-time systolic (top BP number) by 6 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) and diastolic (bottom BP number) by 4 mm Hg. The participants who only took 1 dose of Melatonin or the placebo saw no effect on blood pressure. Participants supplementing with the Melatonin also reported improvements in sleep.
Researchers suggested that while this small study shows the biological clock might be a mechanism that reduces blood pressure, there may also be some benefits for reductions in blood pressure due to improvements in sleep over a longer time period.
It has been found that individuals with high blood pressure often have lower night-time Melatonin levels. This finding that people with high blood pressure may have an actual anatomical disturbance of their biological clocks may open a new avenue for treating Hypertension.
Larger studies are called for.
ASK US. WE KNOW. NOBODY KNOWS NUTRITION LIKE WE DO. NOBODY!
