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Article
Pharmacy Times
Hormone May WorsenNighttime Asthma
Individuals with nocturnal asthmaneed to worry about melatonin,
a naturally occurring hormone thathelps regulate the body's
circadian rhythms. So suggest theresults of a study published in
the Journal of Allergy andClinical Immunology (September 2003).
Participants in the study included 7with nocturnal asthma, 13 with
nonnocturnal asthma, and 11 withoutasthma. While the participants
slept, the researchers took bloodsamples from them every
2 hours. The investigators alsomeasured lung function before the
patients went to bed and again afterthey woke up.
The results showed that the patientswith nocturnal asthma
had the highest levels of melatoninand the biggest drop in lung
function. Among those with nocturnalasthma, levels of melatonin
were an average of 68 pg/mL,compared with 61 pg/mL for
patients with nonnocturnal asthmaand 54 pg/mL for patients
without asthma. Lung functiondropped by an average of 19% in
nocturnal asthma patients, comparedwith 5% in patients with
nonnocturnal asthma. In nonasthmapatients, lung function increased
by ~2%.
"These findings raise concern thathigh melatonin levels may
play a role in making asthma worseat night, and therefore people
with asthma should avoid takingsupplemental melatonin,"
advised study author RandSutherland, MD, an assistant professor
of medicine at the National JewishMedical Center in Denver.