Yesterday Kelt started taking melatonin to help his sleep problems that developed several years ago. On a typical weeknight he gets 5-6 hours of sleep, which ruins his school day. He's unable to focus and sometimes falls asleep in class. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, melatonin is a hormone that regulates other hormones and helps control our sleep cycle. Discussed in the Science News section of Autism Speaks, the Journal of Child Neurology published a study by Vanderbilt University School of Medicine that suggests that melatonin supplements can help people with autism with sleep problems:
"Melatonin levels are low in children with autism, which suggested that taking a melatonin supplement could help them with sleep. 'Rather than treating them with some other drug that would promote sleep, [we could] give them what they're missing,' said Beth Malow, M.D., M.S., senior author of the study and a neurologist specializing in sleep at VU" (Autism Speaks).
We'll see how it works for Kelt. In this study, 25% of the children (ages 2-18) stopped having sleep problems and 60% reported an improvement (107 children total) within 2-6 months.
"Melatonin levels are low in children with autism, which suggested that taking a melatonin supplement could help them with sleep. 'Rather than treating them with some other drug that would promote sleep, [we could] give them what they're missing,' said Beth Malow, M.D., M.S., senior author of the study and a neurologist specializing in sleep at VU" (Autism Speaks).
We'll see how it works for Kelt. In this study, 25% of the children (ages 2-18) stopped having sleep problems and 60% reported an improvement (107 children total) within 2-6 months.
