‘Changes in the duration of melatonin secretion that are induced by changes in the length of the night, convey information about change of season to cells that regulate seasonal changes in behavior.’ (Wehr, Clinical Psychobiology, 1997).
Every week I get emails from women who are exhausted and exasperated from not sleeping, despite many of them already being on HRT and spending money on numerous supplements, which is costing them a small fortune.
This is a bit of a concern, because for women living to around 80-82 years of age, they (hopefully) will have slept for a staggering 27 years! That’s why, for you as a Practitioner or Coach working with midlife and older women, focusing on sleep is one of the most fundamental aspects of the health management that you can share with women.
What many of these women don’t understand, is that their sleep hormone, melatonin, declines gradually over the life-span. Researchers believe that this decline may be related to lowered sleep duration and depth in women during and after the menopause.
Because of this decline, some deterioration of many functions and processes around the body that are controlled by circadian rhythms may arise, including dysregulation of the HPA-Thyroid Axis. These circadian rhythms are the natural day/ night rhythms that help the human body to function, however, what most of our clients fail to realise, is that there are seasonal variations on circadian rhythms too.
When the seasons change, melatonin production changes, hence, symptoms in menopause, along with blood pressure, may change on a seasonal pattern also.
"Drowsiness is a red alert." [William Dement, Sleep Research Pioneer]
“Sleep touches on nearly every aspect of our physiology and psychology, of our interaction with the world and with others.”
William Dement (2000), Sleep Research Pioneer.
Over 20,000 students took William Dement’s course on ‘Sleep and Dreams’ throughout his tenure at Stanford University. He created and pioneered the fields of sleep research, sleep medicine and sleep disorders.
His mission was to educate the world about the importance of sleep, which he believed was dangerously undervalued. His motto, “Drowsiness is a red alert,” is a message he tirelessly broadcast to his students, trainees, members of Congress and the world at large.
According to Stanford University, among Dement’s key achievements were explaining the phases of the human sleep cycle and identifying the physiological basis of dreams. His research helped us to understand that dreaming is how the brain cleanses overnight.
William Dement only passed away in 2020. But I wish that he had lived long enough to undertake sleep research specifically tailored to women in menopause. We might have learnt a lot more than we currently know and even he may have asked the following question,
Do women need to focus on their melatonin production to reduce their menopause symptoms, especially as the seasons change?
It’s an interesting question isn’t it? And I’m asking it, because for the past decade, I’ve been exploring the rapidly emerging research on women’s health, menopause and health as women age and the role of melatonin – how it is produced as we get older, how menopause affects it’s production and the lifestyle solutions that are specific to the menopause transition, that we must help our clients better understand.
I also spend time talking about this crucial hormone, and its opposing hormone, cortisol, in the Lifestyle Science and Menopause Practitioner training. It’s that important!
Melatonin has a pleotropic effect on women’s health during and after menopause. The term ‘pleiotropic’ means ‘effects around the body’.
Hence, when it comes to melatonin and the menopause transition, the role of this hormone has a greater effect throughout the body than many women may realise, especially as the seasons change.
Understanding Melatonin
With the rapid expansion of sleep research over the past two decades, researchers better understand the role of melatonin on human health.
This powerful and essential hormone plays a role in the biologic regulation of mood, depression, cardiovascular system health, reproductive health and of course, weight gain and now, menopause symptoms and ageing.
Inadequate sleep, especially from shift work, contributes to hot flushes/ flashes, night sweats, and to depression and anxiety. Chronic insomnia also affects the body’s ability to regulate stress hormones, which in turn may lead to hypertension and increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, including weight gain, in women – as I often say, ‘To lose, you have to snooze‘.
The reason for this, is because adequate melatonin levels, produced by the pineal gland to signal darkness, regulates insulin by binding to receptors on the pancreas to suppress insulin secretion, reducing glucose tolerance at night. I talk about this in the Certified Menopause Weight Loss Coach course too.
In a study on melatonin, Grivas and Savvidou (2007), describe this important hormone as “the light of the night”. With secretion reaching its peak in the evening hours prior to bedtime, researchers better understand its involvement in a number of other cyclical bodily functions overnight, including regulation of both the immune and hormonal systems. Sleep researchers call this effect, ‘cross-talk‘ between melatonin and the reproductive hormones. [Cipolla-Neto et al, 2022]
Because melatonin is exclusively involved in signalling the ‘time of day’ and ‘time of year’, it is an important hormone to focus on during the menopause transition, especially when seasons are changing and with daylight savings changes.
Afterall, melatonin is considered to be the body’s chronological pacemaker or ‘Zeitgeber’.
The inter-connection between all numerous hormones means that the natural decline of reproductive hormones during menopause also impacts the production and action of melatonin around the body. From changing gut health to hot flushes to joint health, melatonin must be produced to give relief to these other symptoms too.
Lifestyle Tip for Sleep
- Educate clients to avoid sugary foods and drinks at least 4 hours before bedtime. This includes alcohol. Following a single acute alcohol intake, changes in biological rhythms are dose-dependent, reflected
in the melatonin and cortisol secretions, and the core body temperature (CBT) rhythms. [Meyrel et al., 2017]. Sugar increases the production of insulin which is a hormone that carries glucose to specific tissues and organs around the body. One of these organs is the brain.
When insulin is carrying blood glucose to the brain, it crosses the blood-brain barrier and interferes with melatonin production and secretion. Hence, an important aspect for women struggling to get on top of their sleep is to look at their diet and alcohol intake, especially in the evening.
MyMT™ Certified Menopause Courses for Health and Exercise Professionals
When we teach women the evidenced lifestyle solutions for their sleep, hot flushes, anxiety, brain fog, depression and gut, liver and joint health, and we help them to manage their risk for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, (whether they are on HRT or not, which is between the client and their medical Doctor), then this not only helps to improve the quality of life for women, but it also improves your reputation and business.
I can’t wait for you to join me on the edcuation programmes for Health Professionals and Coaches. No matter your Scope of Practice, and no matter where you are in the world, I know you will love your learning.
References:
Cipolla-Neto J, Amaral F, G, Soares, Jr J, M, Gallo C, C, Furtado A, Cavaco J, E, Gonçalves I, Santos C, R, A, Quintela T. (2022). The Crosstalk between Melatonin and Sex Steroid Hormones. Neuroendocrinology 2022;112:115-129. doi: 10.1159/000516148
Grivas T. & Savvidou O. (2007). Melatonin the “light of night” in human biology and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Scoliosis. 4(2)6. doi: 10.1186/1748-7161-2-6. PMID: 17408483; PMCID: PMC1855314.
Gursoy A., Kiseli M., & Caglar G. (2015). Melatonin in aging women. Climacteric. 18(6):790-6. doi: 10.3109/13697137.2015.1052393. Epub 2015 Sep 25. PMID: 26029988.
Karasek M. (2004). Melatonin, human aging, and age-related diseases. Exp Gerontol. 39(11-12):1723-9. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2004.04.012. PMID: 15582288.
Meyrel M, Rolland B, Geoffroy PA. Alterations in circadian rhythms following alcohol use: A systematic review. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2020 Apr 20;99:109831. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2019.109831. Epub 2019 Dec 3.
Stacchiotti, A., Favero, G., & Rodella, L. F. (2020). Impact of Melatonin on Skeletal Muscle and Exercise. Cells, 9(2), 288. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells9020288
Treister-Goltzman, Y. & Peleg, R. (2021). Melatonin and the health of menopausal women: A systematic review. J. of Pineal Research, 71(2), 1-12
Wehr TA. (1997). Melatonin and seasonal rhythms. J Biol Rhythms. Dec;12(6):518-27.
West, C. & Egger G. (2017). Lifestyle Medicine, [Chapter 18], To Sleep, Perchance to …. Get everything else right. 3rd Ed. Elselvier Academic Press.
