Thinking of taking melatonin to help you sleep? Here’s what you need to know

Whether you’re struggling with jet lag, are a shift worker who sleeps during the day, or someone with more severe insomnia , you might have wondered if melatonin can help you get a better sleep.

Melatonin is a hormone made in the brain to regulate your daily sleep-wake cycle.

It tells your internal body clock to get sleepy when it’s dark.

Melatonin supplements are a synthetic version of this hormone that people can take to help them sleep.

But they won’t work for all sleep conditions.

So what can you take it for? First, how does melatonin work? Melatonin works by slowing or stopping neuron firing in the area of the brain called the hypothalamus .

This is the brain’s master biological clock.

Your eyes detect when darkness falls, triggering the brain to produce melatonin.

Because you need lower light levels, or darkness, to trigger melatonin release, sleep can be a problem for people living at very high or low latitudes .

In summer the sun may not set, or it is only dark for a few hours per day, and that affects melatonin production .

And in winter the sun may never come up, or you get only a few hours of sunlight.

For those in the rest of the world, if you suffer from low levels of melatonin – which can happen as you age – it can make it harder to sleep.

When can melatonin help you sleep better? There are several diseases and conditions that affect sleep, but only two have evidence that they are treatable with melatonin supplements.

Melatonin has been shown to be effective in reducing and preventing jet lag .