A team of scientists has revealed that melatonin tablets, commonly prescribed to help with sleep problems, could prevent the deterioration of eyesight with age.
These tablets contribute to preserving vision because they may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a common condition that causes blurred or distorted vision, and usually affects people in their fifties and sixties.
In the study, scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine evaluated the records of more than 200,000 people who had no health history of age-related visual decline or developed slow-progressing AMD.
The research team studied participants' melatonin intake at any time between November 14, 2008 and November 14, 2023.
It turned out that those who took sleeping pills tended to take them at least 4 times, 3 months apart.
Regular use of melatonin was associated with a 58% lower risk of developing the condition, in 121,523 patients aged 50 years or older, without a history of age-related macular degeneration.
Melatonin also appears to have a positive effect on people with dry AMD. In the case of 66,253 patients with early optic atrophy, sleeping pills were associated with a 56% reduced risk of developing the condition.
Despite these promising results, the scientists pointed out that their study was observational, meaning they could not prove that melatonin could reduce the risk of age-related vision loss, and only showed a link between the two.
AMD has also been linked to several lifestyle factors, including diet, smoking, high blood pressure and being overweight. So, perhaps people who take melatonin are also better at maintaining their health, which may then reduce the risk of age-related vision loss.
It is noteworthy that melatonin is a hormone naturally secreted in the body that is involved in sleep.
The study was published in the journal JAMA Opthalmology.
Further research is needed to confirm its benefits.
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