Melatonin: First Headaches, Now Diabetes?

A hormone best known for its role in helping people sleep, and more recently has been found to help with headaches, may also play a part in someone's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The research, published in Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that people who have low levels of melatonin while they're sleeping are at a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Melatonin typically peaks in the body about three to five hours after people go to sleep and regulates their sleep-wake cycles. The nightly increase in melatonin in the blood helps to keep bodily rhythms synchronized. Melatonin is involved in many functions in the body, and some research suggests it affects glucose (sugar) metabolism.

Women with low levels of melatonin at night had twice the risk of developing type 2 diabetes as those with high levels. That was true even after researchers took into account other risk factors for type 2 diabetes, including being overweight or obese, a family history of the disease, diet and smoking.