Can Melatonin Be Used to Treat Macular Degeneration?
November 28, 2010
A recent trial showed that 3mg of melatonin given orally each night at bedtime for 3months to AMD patients reduced pathologic macular changes.
Melatonin is a hormone with antioxidant effects. Researchers hypothesized that melatonin’s antioxidant properties may help stop shortening of telomeres – chromosomal structures that become shorter over time due to factors like aging, inflammation, and damage caused by free radicals). By preventing telomere-shortening in the cells of the retina, the report suggests, melatonin may help preserve eyesight and slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration.
Read a summary of the research for patients here, and an abstract of the research here.
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