★★★★★
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10131443/
Here are a few relevant quotes from the randomized, double blind, placebo controlled human study :
' Melatonin can be considered an effective treatment for improving IBS score, GI symptoms, and quality of life in IBS patients with and without sleep disorders. It is also effective to improve sleep parameters in IBS patients with sleep disorders. '
' The results of our trial showed that in both groups of patients with and without sleep disorders, receiving melatonin leads to a significant improvement in IBS score and GI symptoms, including the severity and the frequency of abdominal pain, the severity of abdominal bloating, satisfaction with bowel habits, disease's impact on patient's life, and stool consistency'
' In patients with sleep disorders, significant improvement in sleep parameters, including subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and daytime dysfunction, was observed, while in patients without sleep disorders, there was no significant improvement in sleep parameters. In addition, quality-of-life improvement was observed in a significant number of melatonin recipients compared to placebo in both groups of patients. '
Of interest in this study is the fact that they only used a total of 6 mg of melatonin per day in two divided doses of 3 mg each. A fairly simple plan for significant alleviation of IBS. Also of interest in this study was the number of participants, 136, a very good size study.
This is a very significant and important study, given that IBS is one of the world's most common gastrointestinal disorders and current medical treatments are often ineffective.
Art