X-Message-Number: 4863
From: Peter Merel <>
Subject: Re: Melatonin
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 1995 23:31:35 +1000 (EST)

Saul Kent writes,

>	Deprenyl is probably useful after age 35 because of evidence
>suggesting that it may help to prevent the development of both Parkinson's
>disease and Alzheimer's disease, and because these diseases are probably
>forms of accelerated aging. There is also anecdotal evidence that
>deprenyl boosts sex drive and increases energy levels. Moreover,
>long-term daily use of low-dose deprenyl has been shown to be safe.

Thanks for the clarification. I wonder if anyone knows an Australian
doctor who might prescribe this stuff?

>	With regard to melatonin, taking low doses of melatonin orally
>increases serum and cellular levels of melatonin.  You probably don't
>need to take melatonin for anti-aging purposes until age 35 when
>endogenous levels begin to decline substantially, but there are other
>good reasons to take it earlier in life. Most people take low doses of
>melatonin in order to sleep better at night. It's the safest "sleeping
>pill" to take. It not only helps people who have trouble sleeping, but
>improves the quality of sleep for people who already sleep well. And
>don't knock sleep when it comes to aging. Good sleep is essential for the
>functioning of our body's intrinsic anti-aging, anti-disease (or health
>maintenance processes) and melatonin is our natural sleep inducer.

I think you've missed my point - or more correctly, Brian Delaney's point,
since I'm just parrotting his arguments from s.l-e. Delaney argues that as
exogamous supplementation of mel. suppresses endogenous mel. levels, it
doesn't pay to supplement beyond a youthful mel. profile. Since non-
time-release mel. causes a sharp spike in mel. levels that goes away
after 3-5 hours (at which point, so I hear, people often wake up),
if endogenous production is suppressed then for the rest of the time
your mel. deficiency might be worse than it would otherwise be.

So except for jet-lag reasons I shouldn't be anxious to take the
non-time-release stuff. Since I asked last cryomessage, and since no
one has objected, I'll repeat the mention of a time-release mel.
supplier that was recently posted to s.l-e. Note however that I've got
no financial or other interest in them, have never tried their
products, and in fact I've never tried exogamous mel. 

"A time-release version of melatonin is available now from
Cardiovascular Research. It's called Multiphasic Melatonin-SR 1.8 mg.
[...]
Cardiovascular Research products are sold in health food stores, but
the time release product may be hard to find there. They are in Concord
CA and their phone number is 800 888-4585 or 510 827-36."

Worth noting too that another way to ramp up your mel. levels is to adopt
a calorie-restricted diet, which as Doug Skrecky mentioned is also good for
a lot of other things that might eventually ail you. If that interests you
a good place to start is the Roy Walford books, whose details I don't have
handy.

Pete.


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