Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Serotonin and Sleep

Serotonin was discovered in the 1940’s and is one of the oldest biologically active substances on earth. It has been shown to be active in virtually all behavioral and cognitive actions in the body. A new book reviewed in the American Medical Association Journal reviews serotonin’s role in sleep problems such as sudden infant death, panic disorder, sleep apnea and depression. Adequate sleep is an important requirement for many illnesses, including chronic fatigue. The AMA emphasizes drugs that inhibit the breakdown of serotonin, but nutrients such as 5-HT can increase serotonin more effectively, especially after measuring neurotransmitters in the urine, an excellent approach utilized by Integrative physicians.

See Nov. 11, 2009 issue of JAMA (click here), p. 2036 and the book, Serotonin and Sleep: Molecular, Functional and Clinical Aspects, Edited by J.M. Monti, et. al.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great Stuff!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for keeping me informed about the Serotonin and its effects, involvement in chronic fatigue disease. Being a chronic fatigue doctor I never got a chance to learn about it.