OUR 400TH ISSUE
If you glance at the masthead this week, you will see that this is the 400th issue of the Cancer Decisions newsletter. Since August 2001 we have been providing a weekly report on the most important events in the world of cancer, with a focus on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). As you can see, we have missed only a few weeks over the past eight years. I hope we have provided our more than 50,000 readers with food for thought and also counteracted some of the many misguided statements one finds on the Internet about cancer.
SLEEP, MELATONIN AND CANCER
Here are some more reflections on the fascinating "Circadian Disruption and Cancer" conference that I attended at the New York Academy of Sciences a few weeks ago.
There are a number of reasons to suspect that poor sleeping habits contribute to an increased risk of breast or prostate cancer. Prime evidence for this comes from a Norwegian study showing that totally blind women have a decreased risk of breast cancer compared to sighted women. The effect was only seen in the totally blind, as there was no such protective effect from any degree of sight disability other than total blindness.
Using Norway's large cancer registry, the authors identified 296 blind women. Their incidence of breast cancer was just 64 percent that of sighted women, i.e., there was a 36 percent protective effective. But among those who went blind before the age of 54 (and therefore had lived in total darkness for a longer period of time) the breast cancer incidence ratio was just 0.51. In other words, their breast cancer risk was half of the sighted women (Kliukiene 2001). That's an extraordinary reduction, which sparked considerable discussion among researchers at the conference.
"Our findings give support to the 'melatonin hypothesis'," the Norwegian authors said. In other words, it supports the idea that the hormone melantonin is protective against breast cancer. A Finnish study found a similar effect among men with prostate cancer (Pukkala 2006).
Melatonin and Night
So what is this "melantonin hypothesis" of which the Norwegian speak? Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced every day by the pineal gland, which is located deep in the brain. Healthy young and middle-aged adults generally secrete about 5 to 25 micrograms of melatonin each night. This amount tends to decline with age, and this decline is possibly linked with an age-related rise in sleep difficulties.
Melatonin is sometimes described as the sleep hormone, but this is not correct. It is not geared to the sleep cycle, although it may help you fall and stay asleep. It is produced in the dark, regardless of whether or not the person is sleeping. Hence its name, which was coined in 1958 from the Greek word, 'melas,' meaning 'black.' Theoretically, you could be up and about in the dark (such as listening to the radio) and still produce the normal amount of melatonin.
At dusk, the decrease in sunlight sends a signal that stimulates the pineal gland to produce more melatonin. Hormone levels then continue to rise steadily for hours, peaking at around 2 a.m. (3 a.m. in older people). It then declines sharply as morning approaches. By 8 a.m. or so your melatonin levels are back down to their typical low daytime point, only to start the cycle over again the following evening.
To be continued next week....
--Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D.
Resources:
Kliukiene J, Tynes T, Andersen A. Risk of breast cancer among Norwegian women with visual impairment. Br J Cancer. 2001;84:397-399.
Pukkala E, Ojamo M, Rudanko SL, Stevens RG, Verkasalo PK. Does incidence of breast cancer and prostate cancer decrease with increasing degree of visual impairment. Cancer Causes Control. 2006;17:573-576.
Wilson BW, Wright CW, Morris JE, et al. Evidence for an effect of ELF electromagnetic fields on human pineal gland function. J Pineal Res. 1990;9:259-269. To check out my latest Current Topic report, Cancer, Enzymes and Trophoblasts: The Legacy of John Beard, DSc. (click here)
Written Moss Reports
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Where to Go? - CAM Resources in Selected Metropolitan Regions
The Where To Go? series continues to attract favorable reviews from readers. Already available are Where To Go? - Germany (Complementary And Alternative (CAM) Cancer Treatments In Germany), Where To Go? - Houston, Where To Go? - Philadelphia, Where To Go? - Chicago and Where To Go? - Boston. These reports offer useful information on regional availability of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
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