Melatonin for Sleep Deprived Autism

In a recent study of children with an autism spectrum disorder, it was found that supplementing with an over the counter melatonin supplement helped the sleep problems that many children face with this disorder. The study looked at children over a two week span and treated some children with melatonin and others in the study with a placebo. As a result of this study, medical schools have begun to investigate the positive effects of melatonin for autistic children and their sleep problems.

Children receiving the melatonin supplements were able to increase their sleep time by twenty one minutes and reduced the amount of time that it took the children to fall asleep by as much as forty two minutes. This study is offering hope to parents of autistic children who are suffering from sleep deprivation. More research from leading medical schools is needed, however, before the use of melatonin becomes common.

The study gave children .3 mg of melatonin at bed time for a period of two weeks to obtain results. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone and children with autism have a low level of this hormone. The study tests the theory that a low level of the hormone is responsible for the sleep problems that autistic children face. One of the most difficult problems is getting autistic children to fall asleep in a shorter period of time. Many autistic children take two to three hours to fall asleep at night.

The hormone produced by the pineal gland affects brain development and sleep rhythms. The studies that first began investigating the use of melatonin for sleep disorders in autistic children, tested the levels of melatonin that was naturally occurring in these children. This was the necessary first step to showing the connection between low levels of melatonin and sleep disorders. With this information, children could be tested with melatonin to determine if increasing the levels had any positive effect on sleep.

Melatonin lasts in the human body for four hours and then it is excreted. To gain the benefits of using it for sleep deprivation in autistic children, it will be necessary to repeat the dose nightly before sleep.

There have been only a few studies on the effectiveness of melatonin on sleep deprived autistic children. For this reason, it is important that a physician be consulted before it is attempted. Discuss it with a doctor for the proper dosage for your child based on age and size. It is typical for the dosage to be low in the beginning and then increased if needed.

Medical schools such as Harvard have found that melatonin can have a positive effect on blood pressure when it is taken at night. There is still a great deal of research needed to determine if melatonin is the answer for sleep deprived autistic children, but the current research is very promising. Melatonin might be the answer for parents of sleep deprived autistic children. Children can be tested for melatonin levels to determine if there is a low level of melatonin causing sleep disturbances.