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...The hormone, melatonin, is secreted by the pineal gland; it plays a role not only in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, but also in prolonging life span and in some cases, halting and even reversing some of the symptoms of ageing in laboratory animals and humans. The hormone also has anti-cancer activity. Such research, mostly performed in Europe, is amply cited in Dr Walter Pierpaoli's 1995 bestseller The Melatonin Miracle , and need not be dealt with in depth here. Since melatonin is already a commonly sold health supplement, it cannot be patented by pharmaceutical companies and consequently has marshalled little interest from the medical establishment, at least on this side of the Atlantic.
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Melatonin is an important, but relatively small piece of the overall puzzle and my work has taken this line of research beyond Dr Pierpaoli's discoveries into wholly uncharted territory.
Synthesising this diverse basic research with the results of my own work in cell culture and in vivo, I have formulated the following general conclusions:
1. Melatonin's anti-aging and anti-cancer effects are at least in part due to the fact that this hormone, after it leaves the pineal gland (where it is made), travels to the thymus gland located behind the breastbone and possibly other endocrine glands where it functions as a "releasing hormone" and modulates the synthesis of at least two other chemically distinct hormones unacknowledged by medical science which I will label only as hormone "X" and hormone "Y" for our purposes here. I have identified the chemical structures of these substances.
2. It is both the relative and absolute ambient levels of hormones X and Y in the body that modulate cellular growth, aging and differentiation phenomena. This effect is in turn probably modulated by melatonin and at least one trace metal or its organometallic complexes. Preliminary indications are that these interactions are complex and remain largely unknown due to the limitations in funds and facilities under which my previous work has been carried out. The production of these substances is probably governed by complex feedback loops that involve the sex hormones, thyroid hormones, etc. Elucidating these relationships must remain one goal for future research.
3. The thymus gland begins the process of involution after the chronological age of 20-30 years in humans. The pineal also calcifies and deteriorates. That is why CT and NMR scans of the heads of older individuals reveal a white pea-sized object in the basal area of the brain which I have seen many people mistake for alien implants. I submit that the deterioration of these glands precipitates a deflection in the concentrations of hormone X, hormone Y, or both. The magnitude and direction (up or down) of these deflections is unknown, but is probably downward.
4. It is this perturbation in the levels of hormones X and/or Y that triggers cell senescence and eventual death, causing tissues to stop turning over and precipitating the physical declines associated with ageing. Since one of these hormones is involved in maintaining cells in a differentiated state, this could provide the long-awaited answer as to why cancer prevalence in general increases as we age, and also why sexual differentiation and other tissue differentiation declines in the same interval.
Melatonin - Monograph.
Altern Med Rev. 2005 Dec;10(4):326-336. Related Articles, Links Melatonin, the primary hormone of the pineal gland, acts as a powerful "chronobiotic," maintaining normal circadian rhythms. In patients with sleep disorders and altered circadian rhythms, such as occur in jet lag, night shift work, and various neuropsychiatric disorders, oral administration of melatonin can provide the necessary resynchronization of those cycles, at dosages ranging from 0.3 to 8 mg. Synthesis of melatonin from the amino acid tryptophan is decreased by exposure to magnetic fields and by the aging process.
Melatonin is a potent scavenger of free radicals and exerts direct inhibition of cancer growth. Various cancer types have been shown to be responsive to oral melatonin (10-50 mg daily), including breast cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and brain metastases from solid tumors.
Melatonin has also been reported to lower LDL- and total cholesterol levels. Abnormally low melatonin levels have been theorized to be a factor in multiple sclerosis, coronary heart disease, epilepsy, and postmenopausal osteoporosis. These reports, while preliminary, serve to further illustrate the wide range of potential effects exerted by melatonin. PMID: 16366741 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] |
5. Seemingly intractable problems can only be solved by reinterpreting the problems in novel ways. Cancer cells can be thought of as normal cells which have reverted to a de-differentiated state (i.e. they resemble rapidly dividing, undifferentiated embryonic cells rather than the mature, slowly dividing, properly behaving normal cells of the tissues from which they derive). It is also known to researchers that cancer cells are effectively immortal; if given a proper environment, they can live and reproduce indefinitely, just as can bacteria and certain types of plant and fungal cells. This finding alone indicates that ageing and death are not the inevitable fates that they are made out to be, but are instead the results of a program which can be altered. Although little has been made of this by conventional researchers, it strongly suggests that cancer is not a disease state, but a developmental problem, just as is ageing. Cancer cells are not behaving badly, they are just behaving in a manner inappropriate for their age. It is, in other words, a problem with the biological clock. Since melatonin is one of the substances that modulates the biological clock, this would explain melatonin's anti-cancer effects and also suggested to me that hormones X and Y might have similar effects.
6. Since the chemical structures of both hormones X and Y are attainable by traditional means of organic synthesis, their manufacture is relatively straightforward. As is also the case with many other currently acknowledged hormones such as the estrogens and progestins, it is possible to synthesize relatively low molecular weight analogues of hormones X and Y which retain the parent molecule's biological activity. I have prepared several analogues of this type. These compounds show the same cell growth altering abilities of the parent molecules although the resources available to me did not facilitate the kind of evaluation necessary to reach detailed conclusions of the
precise actions of these compounds.
7. I have developed other compounds whose chemical structure is quite different from that of either hormones X or Y that seem to have similar effects on cancer cells.
8. The exact mechanism of action of these compounds must at this point remain an object of speculation, since I did not possess the funds or the facilities to properly investigate this issue. Based on the chemical structure of the compounds, however, it is reasonable to assume that, on a cellular level, they act in a manner similar to that of steroid hormones and retinoids (such as vitamin A).  This means that they probably penetrate the cell membrane and are then translocated to the nucleus where they either promote or inhibit the expression of genes which regulate the cell growth cycle. This is a much more sophisticated approach and stands in total contradistinction to the mode of action of virtually all existing anti-cancer drugs which are really little more than cellular poisons designed to kill off all rapidly dividing cells. Such a shotgun approach is responsible for the sometimes horrendous side effects associated with conventional chemotherapy...
This leads me to question whether ancient legends of fantastic life span for humans may not have a basis in reality. For example, thousands of years prior to the biblical era, a Sumerian legend relates the tale of a hero-type figure by the name of Gilgamesh who travelled far and wide in his quest for eternal life. He finally found a plant growing under water that was able to bestow the immortality that Gilgamesh sought. As the tale goes, however, instead of consuming the plant, he fell asleep. During his slumber, a snake ate the plant - hence the mythological explanation for snakes constantly shedding and renewing their skin. The moral lesson of the story is, I suppose, "you snooze, you lose." Due to Gilgamesh's carelessness, humankind was denied the secret of eternal life. Alas, mythological descriptions of the "plant," if that is what it was, are not sufficient to make a positive identification...
Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the fascist Food and Drug Administration, a greedy, Nazi type organization which gives preference to multinational pharmaceutical companies because of payola and other perks. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat and cure or prevent disease. Always consult with your professional health care provider before changing any medication.
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