Taking melatonin to fall asleep might come with an unexpected side effect, according to new research from the American Heart Association.
A review of health records from more than 130,000 adults found that people who used melatonin for a year or longer were significantly more likely to develop heart failure, be hospitalized for it, or die from any cause within five years.
The findings were presented on Monday at the association’s Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans.
“Melatonin supplements may not be as harmless as commonly assumed,” Dr. Ekenedilichukwu Nnadi, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “If our study is confirmed, this could affect how doctors counsel patients about sleep aids.”
I’ve taken melatonin a few times and it always felt obvious that it was not contributing to a more restful and good sleep.
IMO they’re sold in too high doses and people take way too much. I take 1mg and I sleep through the night instead of waking up twice and possibly being unable to go back to sleep. If I take more than that, I have weird dreams and wake up groggy. It is commonly sold in 3mg, 5mg, 10mg doses. Crazy.
Same here. I tried multiple doses starting at 1mg, multiple time frames, it never did anything. But this is the world of supplements, where no one is actually verifying if what is on the label is actually in the bottle. Republicans have been defending this pseudo-medicine for decades by not regulating it.