Warning on use of drug for children's sleep

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/uoa-wou022515.php

Public Release: 25-Feb-2015
University of Adelaide

Sleep researchers at the University of Adelaide are warning doctors and parents not to provide the drug melatonin to children to help control their sleep problems.

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"The use of melatonin as a drug for the treatment of sleep disorders for children is increasing and this is rather alarming," Professor Kennaway says.

Professor Kennaway says the United States is the only country where melatonin is completely unregulated. "It's considered to be a 'dietary supplement', not a regulated drug, and is therefore readily available," he says.

"In Australia, melatonin is registered as a treatment for primary insomnia only for people aged 55 years and over, but it's easily prescribed as an 'off label' treatment for sleep disorders for children."

Professor Kennaway says there is extensive evidence from laboratory studies that melatonin causes changes in multiple physiological systems, including cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems, as well as reproduction in animals.

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"There is also the potential for melatonin to interact with other drugs commonly prescribed for children, but it's difficult to know without clinical trials assessing its safety."

Professor Kennaway, who has been researching melatonin for the past 40 years, says these concerns have largely been ignored throughout the world.

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