Melatonin is one of the most popular sleep-supporting functional foods in the US, often sold without a prescription and is considered by many people as a safe and natural solution to improve sleep quality.
However, a new study by medical scientist Ekenedilichukwu Nnadi of the SUNY Downstate/Kings County Primary Health Care Center (New York, USA) has shown remarkable signs of long-term melatonin use.
Health profile analysis of more than 130,000 adults in many countries showed that people who used melatonin continuously for more than a year had an 89% higher risk of heart failure in the next 5 years compared to the group who did not use it.
A supplementary analysis also recorded that the risk of hospitalization due to heart failure in the long-term melatonin-using group was nearly 3.5 times higher.
However, researchers emphasize that this is only a statistical link, not proving that melatonin is the direct cause of cardiovascular problems.
An important limitation of the study is the identification of melatonin users based on prescription records. In the US, many people can buy this product without a prescription, making the control group likely to include melatonin users but not recorded.
President of the Federation of Spanish Sleep Medicine Associations - Carlos Egea said that the above results need to be seriously considered and require cross-sectional clinical trials in the future to clearly determine the safety level of long-term melatonin use.
Currently, most medical recommendations only consider melatonin safe for short-term use, in the period of one to two months. Data on the impact after this time is still very limited.
Experts recommend that people should not arbitrarily use melatonin for a long time without consulting a doctor, especially for people with cardiovascular disease or related risk factors.
The study was presented at the Scientific Conference of the American Heart Association (AHA) and has not yet undergone a scientific review process.
