Last year, more than 52,000 calls were received at the U.S. poison control centers regarding children consuming alarming amounts of Melatonin. The Supplement is often used as a sleep aid to improve sleep quality and increase sleep duration. The calls are Mostly about young children who get into bottles of unattended Melatonin and eat it like candy. In addition, many Parents leave the Supplement on a nightstand or counter, which leads kids to over eating the pill on their own time.
Emergency physician at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Dr. Karima Lelak recommends leaving Melatonin far away from a child’s reach.
“But really it’s a medication that has the potential to cause harm, and should be put way in the medicine cabinet,” Lelak expressed.
Melatonin supports the body’s sleep cycle. The Supplement has not been regulated as a drug. Because it is unregulated, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not advised to inspect the purity of ingredients or even the accuracy of dosage shares.
According to sources, researchers claim ingredients found in melatonin bottles may not match what’s actually in the Supplement. As a result, some countries have banned over-the-counter Melatonin.
In about 83% of calls made to poison control, children did not show symptoms; however, others persisted with vomiting and altered breathing. In the more severe cases, children have fallen into a coma and stopped breathing correctly. Kids That died due to hormones were under the age of two. Five kids were set on ventilators after being checked into the hospital. Two of those children, who were 3 and 13 months, perished.
A study issued by the CDC discovered that melatonin overdoses in children grew 530% from 2012 to 2021, with a 38% increase from 2019 to 2020, as the COVID pandemic formed.
Most melatonin overdoses were accidental, occurring at homes, with most cases involving boys younger than 5.
The study found that melatonin consumption comprised about 5% of all childhood overdoses reported to poison control centers in 2021, compared with 0.6% in 2012.
The 10-year study also showed that melatonin ingestions lead to more severe outcomes. Whereas most hospitalized patients involved teenagers, who may have intentionally taken too much of the hormone, the most significant jump in hospital admissions occurred among kids younger than five who accidentally overdosed on Melatonin.
Melatonin sales in the rushed by 150% between 2016 and 2020 as a reaction to public demand in the U.S.
Most hospitalized youngsters happen to be teenagers, and many of those cases are believed to be suicide attempts. The most significant growth occurred after the pandemic began in 2020.
