Subject: On health and melatonin (Segerback)..
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 073833 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: emfguru
--------------------------------------------------
........More evidence that the "melatonin thesis" has much merit --
even if it is being ignored by the U.S. "authorities".....
There is certainly sufficient evidence that it ought to be taken
seriously....
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
roy@emfguru.com
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
NEW!!! Website... http://emfguru.com
...................People are more important than profits.................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 21:34:21 +0200
From: "[iso-8859-1] Per Segerbäck"
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Cc: Per Segerback ,
Don Maisch
Subject: on health and melatonin
Roy,
Maybe this has been on the list before...
Below is one of the investigations (ref. 3) behind the "pilot study"
reported by Don Maisch.
As to the question - if people with lower than normal levels of melatonin
have a higher risk for cancer and other health problems, I believe this is
so, see ref. 1 below.
Ref. 2 shows that under some conditions EMF lowers the melatonin levels in
humans. A good idea if you are worried about this is to get the night-level
melatonin level tested.
Best Regards
Per S/FEB
----------------
Ref 1)
Med Lav 1999 Sep-Oct;90(5):650-70
[Occupational agents and endocrine function: an update of
the experimental and human evidence].
[original Article in Italian, English translation below]
Baccarelli A
Many environmental and occupational agents have been shown
to cause detrimental
effects on endocrine function and growing scientific
evidence supports the
hypothesis that such alterations may produce serious
consequences for health.
Although those chemicals mimicking (or contrasting)
estrogenic or androgenic
actions have raised great concern, the relevance of
disruption of other hormonal
pathways is not negligible. This article reviews the
effects of chemical and
physical agents on the hypothalamus-pituitary unit, pineal
gland, thyroid,
parathyroid and calcium metabolism, adrenal glands, and
glucose metabolism.
Metals (Pb, Mn, Cd, organotin compounds), solvents
(benzene, dioxane, styrene,
tetrachloroethylene, toluene), organochlorines (PCBs,
TCDD), and physical agents
have been shown in human, animal or in vitro studies to
cause alterations of the
blood levels, and of the activity or circadian rhythm of
pituitary hormones.
Melatonin has been proposed as the link between
environmental/occupational
factors and the immunologic and neoplastic diseases, which
in addition to
disturbances of the circadian timing system, feature
pineal hormone reduction.
Thyroid gland diseases (goiter, autoimmune thyroiditis,
carcinoma) are associated
with exposure to many chemical or physical agents.
Disruptions of calcium control
secondary to metal exposures, as well as the effect of
radiation on parathyroid, are
addressed. Adrenal cortex and medulla function alterations
by several chemical
agents are considered. Finally, diabetes mellitus as an
outcome of occupational or
environmental exposures and as susceptibility to
occupational and environmental
factors is discussed.
Publication Types:
Review
Review, academic
PMID: 10596541, UI: 20064338
---------------
Ref 2)
J Occup Environ Med 2000 Feb;42(2):136-42
Melatonin metabolite levels in workers exposed to 60-Hz
magnetic
fields: work in substations and with 3-phase conductors.
Burch JB, Reif JS, Noonan CW, Yost MG
Department of Environmental Health, Colorado State
University, Fort Collins
80523, USA. jbburch@cvmbs.colostate.edu
Melatonin suppression by 50/60-Hz magnetic fields
represents a plausible
biological mechanism for explaining increased health risks
in workers. Personal
exposure to magnetic fields and ambient light, and
excretion of the melatonin
metabolite 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate (6-OHMS), were
measured over 3
consecutive workdays in electric utility workers. There
was a magnetic
field-dependent reduction in adjusted mean nocturnal and
post-work 6-OHMS
levels among men working more than 2 hours per day in
substation and 3-phase
environments and no effect among those working 2 hours or
less. No changes were
observed among men working in 1-phase environments. The
results suggest that
circular or elliptical magnetic field polarization, or
another factor linked to
substations and 3-phase electricity, is associated with
magnetic field induced
melatonin suppression in humans.
Publication Types:
Clinical trial
PMID: 10693073, UI: 20157462
----------------
Ref3)
Fibromyalgia--a syndrome associated with decreased nocturnal
melatonin secretion.
Wikner J, Hirsch U, Wetterberg L, Rojdmark S
Karolinska Institute, Endocrinology Section, Department of
Internal Medicine,
Stockholm Soder Hospital.
OBJECTIVE: Most patients with fibromyalgic syndrome (FMS)
complain of sleep
disturbances, fatigue, and pain. These symptoms might be a
consequence of
changed melatonin (MT) secretion, since MT is known to
have sleep promoting
properties. Moreover, serum concentrations of two MT
precursors (tryptophan and
serotonin)--affecting both sleep and pain
perception--appear to be low in patients
with FMS. Therefore, the objective of this investigation
was to study whether
serum MT (s-MT) level is also low in these patients.
DESIGN: Eight patients with
FMS and 8 healthy sex-, BMI-, and age-matched controls
were included in the
study. s-MT concentrations were determined every second
hour between 1800 and
0800 h. Urine was collected between 2200 and 0700 h for
determination of urinary
MT excretion. To evaluate total MT secretion between 1800
and 0800 h and MT
secretion during the hours of darkness (between 23 and 07
h) individual MT areas
under the curve (AUC) were calculated and expressed as
group means.
RESULTS:
The FMS patients had a 31% lower MT secretion than healthy
subjects during the
hours of darkness (MT AUC 2300-0700 h (mean +/- SEM): 1.70
+/- 0.17 vs 2.48
+/- 0.38 nmol/l; P < 0.05). Also the s-MT peak value was
significantly lower in the
patient group: 0.28 +/- 0.03 vs 0.44 +/- 0.06 nmol/l; P <
0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Patients with fibromyalgic syndrome have a lower melatonin
secretion during the
hours of darkness than healthy subjects. This may
contribute to impaired sleep at
night, fatigue during the day, and changed pain
perception.
Comments:
Comment in: Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 1998 Aug;49(2):161-2
PMID: 9828904, UI: 99046344
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com