Melatonin is a hormone that is found in all biological organisms and plays a big role in regulating how human beings sleep. The hormone is responsible for the wake-sleep cycle in life. It is produced by the pineal gland which is located in the brain. Its production is affected by factors like the exposure to light, temperature and the general body condition.

Sleep is very vital for human beings. People sleep mostly during the night and are awake when there is light. The exposure to light is what affects the level of sleep and hence the whole sleep cycle. Darkness stimulates the production of melatonin by the pineal gland. Early or late in the evening, melatonin is produced in large quantities and circulated throughout the body by blood. It is this high quantity of melatonin in the blood which makes people to feel sleepy at night. In the morning hours, melatonin is produced in low quantities. The level of the hormone drops in the blood and you find that sleep goes in the morning and people wake up.

Some other factors like temperature do affect the production of melatonin. This is evident because most people will feel drowsiness and sleepy when the weather is hot. Sleep disappears when one goes out in the cold. When people sleep, they cover themselves in order provide warmth or high temperature so as to stimulate the production of melatonin for sleep.

There are two forms of melatonin which is common to people; the natural melatonin and the synthetic melatonin. All these forms are found in hospitals or pharmacies and can be purchased for those who need it for treatment purposes. The natural melatonin is extracted from other animals while the synthetic melatonin is made from the reaction of various compounds in a chemical reaction with each other. The synthetic one is the one which is widely used because it is pure from complications. The natural melatonin is put into less use because it might be contaminated with animal viruses which can cause harm if consumed.

The levels of the melatonin produced into the blood vary with the age of an individual. Young adults and middle-aged people produce a high level of melatonin into the blood. That is why most of them do not lack sleep. Old people produce very low levels of the hormone into the blood. Most of them face the problem of lack of sleep in the middle of the night. Some go an extra mile to take melatonin for sleep. Children might also have a problem of lack of sleep in the mid-night and they are given sleep pills which contain melatonin or eating melatonin alongside with their meals.

In the taking of melatonin, precaution should be taken because it is usually not meant for persons under the age of 20 years. For the persons under this age the doctor should be involved. The overdose of the hormone has not proven to be harmful because research has been done to establish the effect of its overdose. Ensure you plan to sleep when you take melatonin because it will give you a dizzy feeling. Sleep is important this time because one can be involved in accidents in case one falls asleep.