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hope our information about melatonin and sleep-wake cycle had helped you to balance your body clocks. Now, we will give you some tips that you can follow easily in order to have a healthy life by balancing your sleep hours. 1) Since pineal gland is very sensitive with the light, you seriously need curtains to block the light while you're sleeping. (which will be during the daytime) 2) Reduce Caffeins: we understand that the coffee or any other caffeins such as soft drinks and chocolates are your best friends at work; caffeins are enough to cause insomnia. 3) Sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours: this is scientifically proven that humans need to sleep at least 7-8 hours so that the brain can function properly. If you sleep too little or too much, you will not be able to focus on your works. 4) Take melatonin pills if you re suffering from insomnia for a long period of time. BUT, we do not recommend you to take it more than two years because your body might be immune to the pills if you take it too much.

Brent November Special Edition

Balance Your Body Clocks

those

are the practical tips that you can follow easily. It is

hard to follow at first time, but if you practice it, you ll be able to manage it and will not be able to suffer from any sleep-wake cycle disorders. Thank you! From Chelsea Lee, Kevin Do, Anthony Chun :D

Human Resources Department of Brent Call Center

Human Resources Department of Brent Call Center

hello, shift workers of Brent Call Center!

We are here to help you to adjust and balance your clocks . First, let s learn about Melatonin and the body

Sleep-wake cycle.
Melatonin is a hormone with a role in the cycle of sleep. It is secreted from the pineal gland at the base of the brain. Produced by the pea-size pineal gland in the brain, melatonin helps the body to regulate its Sleep-Wake Cycle. A high level of melatonin tells the body that it is time to sleep, and a low level tells the body that it is time to wake up (Brown). Pineal gland is called as the third eye because of its ability to sense changes in light. It relies on signals from the eyes and other sense organs relating to light and temperature for information about the time of day. It responds by secreting melatonin during darkness but not in light (Dyal). Major action of Melatonin: it communicates with the pituitary gland, which then inhibits the secretion of many other hormones in the body that relate to states of wakefulness. Melatonin s main role in sleep: turn off the body (Drali). Frequent disruptions in melatonin production may impair the ability to think clearly and make sound decisions. Lots of shift workers suffer from shift work disorder. Common symptoms include sleepiness during work hours, difficulty sleeping during

off-hours, lethargy, headaches and decreased concentration. Another disorder includes insomnia, which refers to a difficulty in achieving or maintaining normal sleep (Murray).

now,

did you understand how melatonin and sleepwake cycle work? Let s look at the study that will help you to understand better.
Professor Richard Wurtman from MIT analyzed 17 peer-reviewed scientific papers about the hormone to find out the melatonin s value as a sleep aid. He used a meta-analysis, wherein he analyzed the results and hypothesis of previous studies done on melatonin as a sleep aid. The melatonin meta-analysis delivered a definite yes . As a result, Professor Wurtman confirmed that melatonin is an effective sleep aid for older insomniacs and others. Furthermore, they ve also found that commercially available melatonin pills contain 10 times the effective amount. This study is greatly in depth and detailed, provides analysis that is both observable and non-observable, has high ecological validity of data because it is applicable to real life situations, and finally, it is most suitable for behavior related study. Moreover, it is easy to generalize for major groups due to the fact that the studies had different participants leading to the use of varied cultural backgrounds. Moreover, it is also difficult to repeat the experiment and it is time consuming and expensive. Although the study was successful, it was criticized for being biased toward verification as it was trying to get evidence for what was widely known not the other way around. Also, it was too difficult to interpret the results due to great number of factors and use of many different studies.