What Does Melatonin Have to do With my Cold?

Have you ever noticed that when you have an upper respiratory infection that you feel worse in the evening around 4-5pm?  It stinks, right?  You know the story,  “I was fine all day, and then at dinner time, all hell broke loose!”  The culprit isn’t work or the day’s stresses (though it does play a role), but your brain.  Specifically, your pineal gland! In the evening as your body prepares for sleep (starting 4-5pm), your pineal gland in the brain releases melatonin, a wonderful and necessary hormone responsible for our sleep-wake cycles (circadian rhythm).  Interestingly, melatonin is found to have significant inflammatory effects on your body, therefore everything inflammatory worsens: Cough, asthma, sneezing, runny nose, headaches, mylagias (body aches). Hence, the best medicine to fend off the deleterious effects of this blessed culprit would be an anti-inflammatory. You can dose up on omega three fatty acids, drink ginger tea or take mega doses of curcurmin, but for a quicker response (assuming your kidneys are okay, and you don’t have an ulcer or allergy) Ibuprofen, a strong anti-inflammatory will alleviate most of your symptoms better than most “sick pills.”

You will be surprised.

Be well.  This 2018 Flu season is one of the worst I’ve ever seen.

In health,

Dr. Mike