Sleep and Snake Oil

摘要

As we drift into sleep, our temperatures drop, our metab- olisms slow, and a chemical called melatonin begins to circulate in the blood. Melatonin is made in tiny amounts by the pineal gland, a quarter-inch-long gland at the base of the brain, and little is known about the hormone's effects on the body. Nonetheless, health food stores around the country sell bottles of melatonin, billing it as a soporific, and thousands of users tout its powers. Yet there is now evidence that melatonin not only sometimes fails to promote sleep but in fact disrupts it.