Dr. Joseph M. Miller DO - ROOT Cause Supplements, LLC

https://drjosephmillerobgyn.com

Melatonin Improves IBS Symptom Severity and Quality of Life

 

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects 7-16% of the U.S. population, disproportionately affecting young women. Because of the variety of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and physiological manifestations beyond the GI tract, interventions including pharmaceuticals, dietary changes, and complementary therapies are often used in these patients for symptom management and health improvement. The GI tract is the largest producer of melatonin outside the brain, where it acts locally to improve motility, decrease inflammation, and improve the microbiome.

 

The present study explored the effects of melatonin on the quality of life and sleep patterns of patients with IBS of all types, including pain-predominant, diarrhea-predominant, and constipation-predominant. Safety and efficacy were also measured by adverse event reporting and patient compliance.

 

Participants (n=76) were otherwise healthy adults aged 18 and older with diagnosed IBS at least one month prior to entering the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive 3 mg melatonin or placebo daily for eight weeks. They completed three questionnaires before and after the study period: IBS-Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS), which evaluates symptoms such as pain, distention, and bowel dysfunction as well as overall wellbeing; IBS Quality of Life-34 (IBS-QoL34), which produces a score ranging from 0-100 with lower scores indicating a better QoL; and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), which measures subjective sleep quality over the past month.

 

After eight weeks, the IBS-SSS ranking was significantly lower in the melatonin group compared to placebo, with improved scores increasing the number of participants in remission from zero to 27 of 38 in the intervention group and decreasing the number of participants with severe scores from nine to only one. The melatonin group also reported better IBS-QoL34 scores compared to placebo. Interestingly, the PSQI scores did not significantly differ between groups after the study period, although both the placebo and melatonin groups saw improvements.