The technique has been used to help people fall asleep in the most uncomfortable circumstances, and best of all, it’s said to work for 96% of the people who tried it for six weeks.
Bin Sun has developed a CPAP monitor that measures air pressure via an MPXV7002DP sensor—often also used to determine the airspeed of RC models.
The device is controlled by an Arduino Nano, and when it detects improper pressure readings in alarm mode, it activates a small buzzer, displaying a “check mask” message. It can also be set up to run in manometer mode in order to observe pressure changes.
Getting screened for sleep apnea often means spending a night in a special clinic hooked up to sensors that measure your brain activity, eye movement, and blood oxygen levels. But for long-term, more convenient monitoring of sleep apnea, a team of researchers has developed a wearable device that tracks a user’s breathing.
For something that can occupy such a significant chunk of time, sleep still remains a mysterious part of our lives. Although it is known to play a role in mental and physical health, such as metabolism and memory, there is much that is still not well understood.
A Vital Hack Could Turn Medical Devices Into Ventilators
Hundreds of thousands of lower-grade breathing devices are going unused because manufacturers say they can’t perform life-saving functions. But a new patch might change that.
As infections from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to climb, hospitals around the world are struggling with a potentially fatal shortage of ventilators, the bedside machines that help patients breathe when they’re unable to do so on their own. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of lower-grade breathing devices known as continuous positive airway pressure machines sit idle in closets or warehouses because their manufacturers say they can’t perform the same life-saving functions.
Security researcher Trammell Hudson analyzed the AirSense 10—the world’s most widely used CPAP—and made a startling discovery. Although its manufacturer says the AirSense 10 would require “significant rework to function as a ventilator,” many ventilator functions were already built into the device firmware.
Sähköimpulssia aivoihin – elektroninen neuromodulaattori voi olla pian auttamassa unihäiriöiden hoidossa
Univelkaisten määrä on kasvamassa ja iltavirkkujen osuus on lisääntymässä, kertoo tutkimus. Molempiin muutoksiin liittyy kasvavia terveysvaaroja. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12211666
niapnea voi lisätä Parkinsonin taudin riskiä, ilmenee tuoreesta tutkimuksesta. CPAP-laitteen käyttö saattaa kuitenkin vähentää sairastumisriskiä, kirjoittaa New York Times.
Tutkimusartikkeli aiheesta on julkaistu JAMA Neurology -tiedelehdessä.
Tutkimuksen mukaan riittämätön uni voi verottaa elinkaaren pituutta jopa raskaammin kuin huono ruokavalio, yksinäisyys tai vähäinen liikkuminen, jotka pitkään ikään myös vaikuttavat.
Yksittäisistä elämäntapoihin liittyvistä tekijöistä tupakointi näyttää edelleen olevan kaikkein eniten elinvuosia vähentävä tapa.
Tutkijoiden mukaan ihmisen pitäisi nukkua vähintään seitsemän tuntia yössä parantaakseen oloaan ja edellytyksiään elää pitkään.
Tutkimus tehtiin tarkastelemalla valtavaa tietokantaa, jossa oli elämäntapoihin liittyvää tietoa.
– Ihmisten todellakin kannattaisi pyrkiä nukkumaan joka yö seitsemästä yhdeksään tuntia, kiteytti tutkija Andrew McHill.
Moni asia jonka luulit tietäväsi nykyajan nukkumisesta ei pidä paikkaansa, uusi tutkimus ehdottaa
Uni | Uusi tutkimus vertailee nukkumista teollistuneissa ja ei-teollistuneissa yhteisöissä. Tulosten mukaan moderni ihminen nukkuu paremmin kuin on ajateltu. https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000011083177.html
For decades, the answer to “how much sleep does an adult need?” has been simple: eight hours. The idea dates back to the mid-19th century when the notion of eight hours of work, eight for recreation and eight for sleep first took hold.
But growing evidence suggests that eight hours may not be the ideal amount of sleep for everyone, as a new narrative review in Brain Medicine reminds us.
In one early study, researchers found that people in Tanzania, Namibia and Bolivia slept for between 5.7 and 7.1 hours a night. These short sleep durations can’t be attributed to traffic noise, social media use or too much artificial light at night.
The short nights also seemed to be enough: people did not make up for them with long daytime naps. Without an alarm clock, they tended to wake close to dawn, regardless of the day of the week.
But one recent analysis estimated the average to be 6.4 hours.
So, is eight hours too much? These studies make an important assumption that the amount people naturally sleep is the amount they need. That assumes that hunter-gatherers are free from stress, busy schedules and other pressures on sleep. But is that really the case?
But other evidence has emerged from large studies looking at the relationship between sleep and health in industrialised societies.
If we define optimal sleep as the amount linked to the best health, many large studies suggest the sweet spot may be less than eight hours. One recent study used brain and body scans and molecular measures to look at how sleep relates to the ageing of different organs. It estimated the optimal amount to be between 6.4 and 7.8 hours, depending on the person’s sex and the organ being studied.
Many studies find that both too little and too much sleep are linked to poorer health, including heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline and obesity. But scientists are still debating whether too much sleep causes poor health or is instead an early sign of it. Either way, these findings challenge the idea that everyone needs exactly eight hours and suggest that consistently sleeping for much longer may be worth paying attention to.
However, all these estimates of optimal sleep duration are based on averages, and the average person does not exist. When given enough opportunity to sleep, studies find that young adults sleep longer than healthy older adults. Even people of the same age can need very different amounts of sleep.
Current sleep duration recommendations, from the National Sleep Foundation in the US, reflect these individual differences. It says that adults aged 26 to 64 should get between seven and nine hours of sleep per day, but that sleeping between six and ten hours may be appropriate for some adults. That is a long way from the one-size-fits-all eight-hour rule.
Most of us do not wake naturally before dawn. Many of us have short sleep during the working week and longer catch-up sleep on work-free days.
Artificial light is recognised as the main driver of this shift. It changes our sleep habits and delays our body clock, which controls the timing of sleep and wakefulness.
Irregular sleep is also common, particularly among shift workers and university students. Irregular sleep is linked to poorer health. But if you lose sleep during the week, catching up on some of it at the weekend appears to be better than not catching up at all – even though it makes your sleep pattern less regular. So regularity matters, but so does the total amount of sleep you get over a week or longer.
The eight-hour rule is clearly too simple. People need different amounts of sleep, and when we sleep matters too. But one simple message remains: get enough sleep when you can, wherever you can, and don’t worry too much about the occasional bad night.
If you’re one of the many people chowing down on melatonin gummies to help get to sleep, you may want to check out this study.
A new piece of research published by the American Heart Association made an alarming discovery about long-term use of melatonin supplements, an over-the-counter sleep aid used by tens of thousands. Basically, those who use melatonin over a year or more had a 90 percent higher risk of developing congestive heart failure over a five-year period.
Before you go flush your gummies down the toilet, there are a few caveats. For starters, the findings weren’t based on a clinical trial, but on data from a large database of anonymous health records. Researchers drew from data on chronic insomniacs, specifically, splitting them into two groups: those who have dosed the sleep-regulating hormone over a period of 12 months or more, and those who suffer without.
Still, the results are clearly worrisome. Overall, the study found that 4.6 percent of the melatonin group went on to develop heart failure, compared to 2.7 percent for the control group.
That wasn’t the only data point suggesting it may be time to ween off the ‘tone. A secondary analysis performed by the researchers found that melatonin users were nearly 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than those in the other group, with hospitalization rates of 19.0 and 6.6 percent, respectively.
“Melatonin supplements are widely thought of as a safe and ‘natural’ option to support better sleep, so it was striking to see such consistent and significant increases in serious health outcomes, even after balancing for many other risk factors,”
A major study has linked melatonin use to a 90% higher risk of heart failure — raising urgent safety questions about the ”natural” sleep aid.
A large-scale retrospective study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions has challenged the widespread perception of melatonin as a completely harmless, “natural” sleep remedy.
By analyzing the medical histories of over 130,000 adults diagnosed with chronic insomnia, researchers compared those who took melatonin for at least one year with a closely matched control group of non-users.
Over a five-year tracking period, individuals who used melatonin long-term were found to have an 89% higher hazard of developing heart failure, a threefold increase in heart-failure-related hospitalizations, and a doubling of all-cause mortality compared to those who did not take the supplement.
While these dramatic findings have sparked significant concern, medical experts urge caution, emphasizing that the observational study shows an association rather than direct causation. The study relied on electronic health records, which means researchers could not account for critical factors such as precise dosages, the severity of participants’ underlying sleep disorders, or potential mental health conditions that might independently elevate cardiovascular risk. Because over-the-counter melatonin is highly popular and largely unregulated in the United States, cardiologists advise patients to consult with healthcare professionals to evaluate and address the root causes of their sleep struggles rather than relying indefinitely on daily supplementation.
source: American Heart Association. (2025). Effect of Long-term Melatonin Supplementation on Incidence of Heart Failure in Patients with Insomnia. Circulation.
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34 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Studying sleep: A DIY diagnostic approach
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4461986/Studying-sleep–A-DIY-diagnostic-approach
Tomi Engdahl says:
What happened when I tried the U.S. Army’s tactic to fall asleep in two minutes
https://www.fastcompany.com/90253444/what-happened-when-i-tried-the-u-s-armys-tactic-to-fall-asleep-in-two-minutes?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com
The technique has been used to help people fall asleep in the most uncomfortable circumstances, and best of all, it’s said to work for 96% of the people who tried it for six weeks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do you suffer from sleep apnea? Have you ever woken up to find your CPAP mask came off? Here’s an Arduino-powered solution to that problem.
This monitor will let you know if your CPAP mask comes off at night
https://blog.arduino.cc/2019/08/01/this-monitor-will-let-you-know-if-your-cpap-mask-comes-off-at-night/
Bin Sun has developed a CPAP monitor that measures air pressure via an MPXV7002DP sensor—often also used to determine the airspeed of RC models.
The device is controlled by an Arduino Nano, and when it detects improper pressure readings in alarm mode, it activates a small buzzer, displaying a “check mask” message. It can also be set up to run in manometer mode in order to observe pressure changes.
https://www.hackster.io/binsun148/digital-manometer-cpap-machine-monitor-c1620a
Tomi Engdahl says:
The brain benefits of deep sleep — and how to get more of it
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gartenberg_the_brain_benefits_of_deep_sleep_and_how_to_get_more_of_it
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Patch Uses Machine Learning to Detect Sleep Apnea
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/prototype-wearable-monitor-sleep-apnea-news
Getting screened for sleep apnea often means spending a night in a special clinic hooked up to sensors that measure your brain activity, eye movement, and blood oxygen levels. But for long-term, more convenient monitoring of sleep apnea, a team of researchers has developed a wearable device that tracks a user’s breathing.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8963717
Tomi Engdahl says:
Onera’s Bio-Impedance Patch Uses Machine Learning to Detect Sleep Apnea
This patch could make it easier to detect and monitor sleep apnea in a patient’s own home
https://www.hackster.io/news/onera-s-bio-impedance-patch-uses-machine-learning-to-detect-sleep-apnea-23e2e136653c
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sleep-deprived brains may be asleep and awake at the same time
https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/sleep-deprived-brains-may-be-asleep-and-awake-same-time.html
For something that can occupy such a significant chunk of time, sleep still remains a mysterious part of our lives. Although it is known to play a role in mental and physical health, such as metabolism and memory, there is much that is still not well understood.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SleepyHead
Open Source CPAP Research and Review Software
https://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Vital Hack Could Turn Medical Devices Into Ventilators
Hundreds of thousands of lower-grade breathing devices are going unused because manufacturers say they can’t perform life-saving functions. But a new patch might change that.
As infections from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continue to climb, hospitals around the world are struggling with a potentially fatal shortage of ventilators, the bedside machines that help patients breathe when they’re unable to do so on their own. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of lower-grade breathing devices known as continuous positive airway pressure machines sit idle in closets or warehouses because their manufacturers say they can’t perform the same life-saving functions.
Security researcher Trammell Hudson analyzed the AirSense 10—the world’s most widely used CPAP—and made a startling discovery. Although its manufacturer says the AirSense 10 would require “significant rework to function as a ventilator,” many ventilator functions were already built into the device firmware.
https://www.wired.com/story/a-vital-hack-could-turn-medical-devices-into-ventilators/
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/04/firmware-jailbreak-lets-low-cost-medical-devices-act-like-ventilators/
https://airbreak.dev/
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE NEW FRONT LINE OF SLEEP APNEA DIAGNOSTICS
https://nukute.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sähköimpulssia aivoihin – elektroninen neuromodulaattori voi olla pian auttamassa unihäiriöiden hoidossa
Univelkaisten määrä on kasvamassa ja iltavirkkujen osuus on lisääntymässä, kertoo tutkimus. Molempiin muutoksiin liittyy kasvavia terveysvaaroja.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12211666
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.coronaria.fi/uniklinikka/cpap-laitteet-coronaria-uniklinikalta/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2022/04/25/nopea-60-ghzn-tutkapiiri-paljastaa-uniongelmat/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.edn.com/sleeping-with-the-google-nest-hub/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Achieve Real-Time Communication With Lucid Dreamers in Breakthrough
International scientists have unlocked a new and exciting avenue to explore the world of dreams.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4admym/scientists-achieve-real-time-communication-with-lucid-dreamers-in-breakthrough#Echobox=1659594825
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sleep Posture Monitor Warns You Away From Dangerous Positions
https://hackaday.com/2022/08/28/sleep-posture-monitor-warns-you-away-from-dangerous-positions/
Tomi Engdahl says:
STARTUP SHOWS OFF PILLOW THAT DETECTS SNORING AND AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTS YOUR HEAD
https://futurism.com/the-byte/startup-pillow-detects-snoring-automatically-adjusts-head
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.arduino.cc/2023/05/16/stop-snoring-in-its-tracks-with-this-helpful-device/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hacking Your Brain with Polyphasic Sleep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuizzRCALCU
Tomi Engdahl says:
ResMed AirSense 10 Repair
Repair and service information related to the ResMed AirSense 10 CPAP machine. Also known as the ResMed Air10.
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/ResMed_AirSense_10
ResMed AirSense 10 Components & Assembly – Repairs / Parts / Faults
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9jdc9_WmwM
Tomi Engdahl says:
See What Happens When You Don’t Clean Your CPAP?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWBpZ8HKU-M
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2025/07/21/fixing-human-sleep-with-air-under-pressure/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.broshop.fi/products/sandberg-varavirtalahde-resmed-airsense-10-sarjan-cpap-laitteille-27000mah
Tomi Engdahl says:
Syö banaani illalla – Hyvä syy
Iltapalan voi rakentaa unen saamista tukevaksi.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/elintavat/a/71134170-134e-4179-a4e1-1ff487aceb36
Tomi Engdahl says:
Uniapnea ja Parkinsonin tauti: yhteys
https://tekniikanmaailma.fi/uniapnea-ja-parkinsonin-tauti-yhteys/
niapnea voi lisätä Parkinsonin taudin riskiä, ilmenee tuoreesta tutkimuksesta. CPAP-laitteen käyttö saattaa kuitenkin vähentää sairastumisriskiä, kirjoittaa New York Times.
Tutkimusartikkeli aiheesta on julkaistu JAMA Neurology -tiedelehdessä.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Positive Airway Pressure, and Implications of Early Treatment in Parkinson Disease
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/fullarticle/2841763
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huono yöuni lyhentää elämää – Yllätys: Tämä määrä riittää
Riittävän pitkän yöunen vaikutus koko elinkaareemme on häkellyttävän suuri. Tutkijat määrittelivät, mikä on riittävä määrä unta.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/elintavat/a/c3fb6452-576f-48e5-9fb7-8a781595d62a
Tutkimuksen mukaan riittämätön uni voi verottaa elinkaaren pituutta jopa raskaammin kuin huono ruokavalio, yksinäisyys tai vähäinen liikkuminen, jotka pitkään ikään myös vaikuttavat.
Yksittäisistä elämäntapoihin liittyvistä tekijöistä tupakointi näyttää edelleen olevan kaikkein eniten elinvuosia vähentävä tapa.
Tutkijoiden mukaan ihmisen pitäisi nukkua vähintään seitsemän tuntia yössä parantaakseen oloaan ja edellytyksiään elää pitkään.
Tutkimus tehtiin tarkastelemalla valtavaa tietokantaa, jossa oli elämäntapoihin liittyvää tietoa.
– Ihmisten todellakin kannattaisi pyrkiä nukkumaan joka yö seitsemästä yhdeksään tuntia, kiteytti tutkija Andrew McHill.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Are humans facing a sleep epidemic or enlightenment? Large-scale, industrial societies exhibit long, efficient sleep yet weak circadian function
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/292/2041/20242319/104812/Are-humans-facing-a-sleep-epidemic-or
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moni asia jonka luulit tietäväsi nykyajan nukkumisesta ei pidä paikkaansa, uusi tutkimus ehdottaa
Uni | Uusi tutkimus vertailee nukkumista teollistuneissa ja ei-teollistuneissa yhteisöissä. Tulosten mukaan moderni ihminen nukkuu paremmin kuin on ajateltu.
https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000011083177.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/tutkimus-yli-kahdeksan-tunnin-younilla-ikava-seuraus/9338238
Tuoreen tutkimuksen mukaan terveydelle parasta olisivat 6-8 tunnin yöunet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Poor sleep can make you more susceptible to conspiracy theories
Lack of sleep and insomnia, along with depression, may lower your guard against misinformation.
https://www.popsci.com/health/poor-sleep-conspiracy-theory/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAR4MDJjbGNrBHgwHGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHviewXTGw8kUqZvpMhNN76bkxuPUOvdGpkenGfyrLMZ26dJp_dpOZvRmPlXs_aem_FXCbj7yESqc-CNtDcvVBIQ
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.city.fi/viihde/tukholmalaistutkijat-tama-piirre-kasvoissasi-paljastaa-univajeen-ennen-kuin-itse-huomaat-sen/?fbclid=Iwb21leASsRUFjbGNrBKxFN2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHubxXW4j2Jfp5bu_askXoJ7hcYWyBicNgVH5LD5KzTLbI6mbTY2eHPjtbOk__aem_qnd-hCXx2WHgmSj9kw3gKw
Tomi Engdahl says:
The eight-hour sleep rule is outdated, new study suggests. Here’s how much you really need
The idea dates back to the mid-19th century when the notion of eight hours of work, eight for recreation and eight for sleep first took hold
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/how-much-sleep-eight-hours-adults-b3040786.html?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=related&utm_campaign=embed1&fbclid=IwVERDUAT_RsZwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHr6-nYzjgS1znugMlMIJbRyaPz55qPgHJ3rty72_BcuKSF28rs4UlZ-vHH4f_aem_gSnUcZFyv0opC7uKAiP2nw
For decades, the answer to “how much sleep does an adult need?” has been simple: eight hours. The idea dates back to the mid-19th century when the notion of eight hours of work, eight for recreation and eight for sleep first took hold.
But growing evidence suggests that eight hours may not be the ideal amount of sleep for everyone, as a new narrative review in Brain Medicine reminds us.
In one early study, researchers found that people in Tanzania, Namibia and Bolivia slept for between 5.7 and 7.1 hours a night. These short sleep durations can’t be attributed to traffic noise, social media use or too much artificial light at night.
The short nights also seemed to be enough: people did not make up for them with long daytime naps. Without an alarm clock, they tended to wake close to dawn, regardless of the day of the week.
But one recent analysis estimated the average to be 6.4 hours.
So, is eight hours too much? These studies make an important assumption that the amount people naturally sleep is the amount they need. That assumes that hunter-gatherers are free from stress, busy schedules and other pressures on sleep. But is that really the case?
But other evidence has emerged from large studies looking at the relationship between sleep and health in industrialised societies.
If we define optimal sleep as the amount linked to the best health, many large studies suggest the sweet spot may be less than eight hours. One recent study used brain and body scans and molecular measures to look at how sleep relates to the ageing of different organs. It estimated the optimal amount to be between 6.4 and 7.8 hours, depending on the person’s sex and the organ being studied.
Many studies find that both too little and too much sleep are linked to poorer health, including heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline and obesity. But scientists are still debating whether too much sleep causes poor health or is instead an early sign of it. Either way, these findings challenge the idea that everyone needs exactly eight hours and suggest that consistently sleeping for much longer may be worth paying attention to.
However, all these estimates of optimal sleep duration are based on averages, and the average person does not exist. When given enough opportunity to sleep, studies find that young adults sleep longer than healthy older adults. Even people of the same age can need very different amounts of sleep.
Current sleep duration recommendations, from the National Sleep Foundation in the US, reflect these individual differences. It says that adults aged 26 to 64 should get between seven and nine hours of sleep per day, but that sleeping between six and ten hours may be appropriate for some adults. That is a long way from the one-size-fits-all eight-hour rule.
Most of us do not wake naturally before dawn. Many of us have short sleep during the working week and longer catch-up sleep on work-free days.
Artificial light is recognised as the main driver of this shift. It changes our sleep habits and delays our body clock, which controls the timing of sleep and wakefulness.
Irregular sleep is also common, particularly among shift workers and university students. Irregular sleep is linked to poorer health. But if you lose sleep during the week, catching up on some of it at the weekend appears to be better than not catching up at all – even though it makes your sleep pattern less regular. So regularity matters, but so does the total amount of sleep you get over a week or longer.
The eight-hour rule is clearly too simple. People need different amounts of sleep, and when we sleep matters too. But one simple message remains: get enough sleep when you can, wherever you can, and don’t worry too much about the occasional bad night.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Melatonin supplements may not be as harmless as commonly assumed.” https://trib.al/2KncK08
Sweet Dreams
Melatonin Use Linked to Massively Increased Risk of Heart Failure
“Melatonin supplements may not be as harmless as commonly assumed.”
https://futurism.com/health-medicine/melatonin-heart-failure-cardiovascular-health?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUJ-FJjbGNrBQn4G3Bkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeCjHSFaJOsbkymzPpnr1eRyUuvFSOo27WXfMFdMSAB1gKJCT0nNjw0tJC7OM_aem_OhnvVdqYnxnDH4SfM_4gjg
If you’re one of the many people chowing down on melatonin gummies to help get to sleep, you may want to check out this study.
A new piece of research published by the American Heart Association made an alarming discovery about long-term use of melatonin supplements, an over-the-counter sleep aid used by tens of thousands. Basically, those who use melatonin over a year or more had a 90 percent higher risk of developing congestive heart failure over a five-year period.
Before you go flush your gummies down the toilet, there are a few caveats. For starters, the findings weren’t based on a clinical trial, but on data from a large database of anonymous health records. Researchers drew from data on chronic insomniacs, specifically, splitting them into two groups: those who have dosed the sleep-regulating hormone over a period of 12 months or more, and those who suffer without.
Still, the results are clearly worrisome. Overall, the study found that 4.6 percent of the melatonin group went on to develop heart failure, compared to 2.7 percent for the control group.
That wasn’t the only data point suggesting it may be time to ween off the ‘tone. A secondary analysis performed by the researchers found that melatonin users were nearly 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized for heart failure than those in the other group, with hospitalization rates of 19.0 and 6.6 percent, respectively.
“Melatonin supplements are widely thought of as a safe and ‘natural’ option to support better sleep, so it was striking to see such consistent and significant increases in serious health outcomes, even after balancing for many other risk factors,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19fzDfNgiD/
A major study has linked melatonin use to a 90% higher risk of heart failure — raising urgent safety questions about the ”natural” sleep aid.
A large-scale retrospective study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions has challenged the widespread perception of melatonin as a completely harmless, “natural” sleep remedy.
By analyzing the medical histories of over 130,000 adults diagnosed with chronic insomnia, researchers compared those who took melatonin for at least one year with a closely matched control group of non-users.
Over a five-year tracking period, individuals who used melatonin long-term were found to have an 89% higher hazard of developing heart failure, a threefold increase in heart-failure-related hospitalizations, and a doubling of all-cause mortality compared to those who did not take the supplement.
While these dramatic findings have sparked significant concern, medical experts urge caution, emphasizing that the observational study shows an association rather than direct causation. The study relied on electronic health records, which means researchers could not account for critical factors such as precise dosages, the severity of participants’ underlying sleep disorders, or potential mental health conditions that might independently elevate cardiovascular risk. Because over-the-counter melatonin is highly popular and largely unregulated in the United States, cardiologists advise patients to consult with healthcare professionals to evaluate and address the root causes of their sleep struggles rather than relying indefinitely on daily supplementation.
source: American Heart Association. (2025). Effect of Long-term Melatonin Supplementation on Incidence of Heart Failure in Patients with Insomnia. Circulation.