ADHD Vitamins for Sleep and Melatonin

Melatonin is not one of the vitamins for ADHD that I have been posting about.  It is not a vitamin at all but rather a hormone that is an important brain anti-oxidant.  Melatonin is also important as it also contributes significantly to other brain signaling processes.

A new study our of Sweden has found a genetic link between melatonin deficiencies and ADHD symptoms.  The researchers of this study which was published in the April edition of the Journal of Pineal Research found that people with ADHD have a "melatonin signaling deficiency" and that this genetic difference likely accounts for the sleep problems seen in adults and children with ADHD.

People diagnosed with ADHD are more likely to have sleep problems than people without a diagnosis of ADHD.  Magnesium is recommended for people with ADHD.  Magnesium is known to be sedating and this is one of the ADHD vitamins that can help with ADHD sleep problems but the root of ADHD sleep problems may be melatonin related so supplemental melatonin may better address the underlying issues related to the sleep problems of ADHD.

The Swedish study looked at the genes that regulate Melatonin in over 300 individuals of which 100 had a diagnosis of ADHD. They found significant changes in the melatonin signaling pathways only in the ADHD patients and not in the controls. This is the first study that  confirms that ADHD sleep problems are not related to medication effects or hyperactivity symptoms but rather are the result of melatonin deficiencies.

Melatonin, according to the authors of this Swedish study, is a "powerful antioxidant and a synchronizer of many physiological processes". It is unknown how much of a role melatonin deficiencies play in the presence of  the inattention seen in ADHD Inattentive but it is clear from many other studies that inattention, loss of concentration and loss of focus  in people with and without ADHD Inattentive or the other types of ADHD can all be the result of sleep deprivation.

Melatonin supplements are not ADHD vitamins but they are one of the non-medication solutions available to people with ADHD.  Melatonin can be taken 1 hour prior to sleep and helps tremendously insomnia. This ADHD supplement may help ADHD by addressing some of the brain's neurotransmitter signaling and deficiency issues that cause not only sleep disturbances but that may also cause some of the other symptoms of ADHD.

Genetic variations of the melatonin pathway in patients with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders.  
Chaste P, Clement N, Botros HG, Guillaume JL, Konyukh M, Pagan C, Scheid I, Nygren G, Anckarsäter H, Rastam M, Ståhlberg O, Gillberg IC, Melke J, Delorme R, Leblond C, Toro R, Huguet G, Fauchereau F, Durand C, Boudarene L, Serrano E, Lemière N, Launay JM, Leboyer M, Jockers R, Gillberg C, Bourgeron T.
Journal of Pineal Research. 2011 Apr 27.

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