More Americans , Are Using Melatonin to Sleep, But How Safe Is It?.<br />More Americans , Are Using Melatonin to Sleep, But How Safe Is It?.<br />CNN reports a rising amount of Americans struggling to sleep have turned to taking over-the-counter melatonin.<br />A new study finds that many Americans may be using the sleep aid <br />in dangerously high amounts.<br />The study, published Jan. 1 <br />in the medical journal 'JAMA,' <br />found that by the year 2018, .<br />Americans were consuming <br />melatonin twice as often as they <br />had ten years earlier.<br />Experts worry that the population's over-reliance on sleeping aids may <br />indicate ill health effects in the future.<br />Taking sleep aids has been linked in prospective studies with the development of dementia and early mortality. , Rebecca Robbins, instructor of sleep medicine at <br />Harvard Medical School, via CNN.<br />According to CNN, long-term <br />melatonin use could result in headaches, nausea, drowsiness, depression <br />and abnormally low blood pressure.<br />According to CNN, long-term <br />melatonin use could result in headaches, nausea, drowsiness, depression <br />and abnormally low blood pressure.<br />According to the National Institutes of Health, short-term use of melatonin <br />is considered safe, but long-term <br />safety is still unknown.<br />Many look at melatonin <br />as a safe, all-natural alternative <br />to other sleeping aids.<br />Melatonin is a naturally-occurring hormone secreted <br />by the pineal gland deep within the brain. <br />It is released into the bloodstream to help regulate <br />the body's sleep cycles.<br />There is a view that if it's natural, then it can't hurt. , Rebecca Robbins, instructor of sleep medicine at<br />Harvard Medical School, via CNN.<br />The truth is, we just really <br />don't know the implications <br />of melatonin in the longer <br />term, for adults or kids. , Rebecca Robbins, instructor of sleep medicine at<br />Harvard Medical School, via CNN
