Melatonin, Sleep Disturbance, and Cancer Risk - Essay Example

"Melatonin, Sleep Disturbance, and Cancer Risk" is a great example of a paper on the endocrine system. Melatonin is a chemical hormone found in the body and is charged with the responsibility of circadian regulation and facilitation of sleep, as well as the inhibition of cancer development and enhancement of the immune functionalities (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2008). In the sleep cycle, melatonin is repeatedly secreted in the bloodstream immediately after synthesis during the night, while during the day, its synthesis and secretion in virtually none.

Its production is triggered by the activity of an internal pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nuclei found in the anterior of the hypothalamus, however, melatonin production does not depend on the presence of light and darkness but the nocturnal melatonin signal. The signal provides all information on the time of the day to all body parts thus working as a stable central biological clock; therefore, in order to determine sleep or wakefulness, melatonin receptors play the role of mediating neuron activity. Physiological nocturnal melatonin concentration facilitates sleep by suppressing circadian wakefulness-generating program, despite this relationship between sleep and melatonin, sleep does not determine the production of melatonin.

However, melatonin determines the presence of sleep, but the presence of darkness does contribute to higher production of melatonin thus extended sleep durations, for instance, an individual’s exposure to light and darkness induces changes in melatonin production, as well as circadian rhythms (Blask, 2009). In this regard, light becomes the most crucial component of the internal time-keeping mechanism as well as the sleep cycle. However, the production of melatonin varies from one individual to the other thus the differences in sleep cycles from one person to the other. Therefore, melatonin plays a crucial role in the maintenance of the sleep-wake cycle in an individual by regulating body functions.

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