The Melatonin Miracle: Nature's Age-Reversing, Disease-Fighting, Sex-Enhancing Hormone

Waay too positive about melatonin when we still do not have enough long term studies of its effects - still fascinating. For those that actually take melatonin regularly the caution point is also on how high the quality of the supplements is. A poor supplement could contain toxic chemicals along with melatonin that would outweigh any positive effect.

Melatonin, a neurohormone produced by the pineal gland, was the darling of the fit-for-life set when this book was first published. For less than $10 a month melatonin promised to lower cholesterol, shrink cancerous tumors, restore a flagging sex life, and guarantee a good night's sleep. The authors were well-known aging researchers who fed melatonin to laboratory mice with amazing results: a 30 percent increase in lifespan (equal to 25 human years) and complete freedom from illness and disease throughout their lives. Pierpaoli's story of how he came to relate the pineal gland and melatonin to the reversal of aging that he noted in his laboratory animals during early experiments is intriguing reading. Regelson and Pierpaoli said they show more wrote the book to draw attention to melatonin's potential as treatment for disease states, as well as for its apparent ability to confer disease-free life. With enough demand from the public, the authors had hoped to attract a share of the limited federal research funds for clinical trials in human beings. Melatonin aspired to be a completely safe, nontoxic, effective treatment for cancer and AIDS. (March 1995) show less