Melatonin. Mitochondria. Mitophagy. Autophagy. Oh my! Back pain connects them all in an interesting way.
Melatonin – a hormone secreted by the brain at
night to regulate circadian rhythm – promotes sleep which
is vital to the body’s capability to recover
from the day and prepare for the next. Mitophagy stimulates healthy
turnover of mitochondria (the energy producers in cells). Mitophagy prevents
the build-up of dysfunctional mitochondria in cells that may lead
to cell deterioration. In the case of back pain,
this would prevent such disc
cell deterioration which could lead to disc
degeneration. Autophagy is the normal bodily process
that controls cell destruction and creation in the
body. When there is cellular stress, autophagy is increased.
(1) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic shares findings that melatonin
and light therapy may intervene in this process and promote
McHenry back pain relief.
MITOCHONDRIA AND DISC DEGENERATION
OrthoIllinois Chiropractic knows how disc degeneration involves cellular oxidative stress, mitochondria problems and cell death (aka
apoptosis). This is the area researchers suggest
melatonin may play a beneficial role in the slowing
of disc degeneration. Melatonin rids oxygen free radicals,
normalizes mitochondria function and balance, speeds
up mitrophagy and slows apoptosis (cell death).
Melatonin may assist in the treatment of disc degeneration. (2)
MELATONIN AND LIGHT FOR DISC DEGENERATION AND McHenry BACK PAIN
In a biological study of melatonin’s effect on intervertebral
disc degeneration, melatonin sustained nucleus
pulposus cells affected by oxidative stress. Such stress leads
to damage of these cells. Melatonin is an vital
neuroendocrine hormone with good antioxidant effect that functions
on biological clock regulation. (3) Chronic non-specific low back pain
sufferers who added melatonin to their treatment
plan experienced a positive increase on the
effect of standard treatments on pain, sleep and depression. The reduced
pain intensity when moving and resting indicated that melatonin
possibly has pain relieving
effect. (4) Melatonin may be another treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.
LIGHT THERAPY AND BACK PAIN RELIEF
Since melatonin is triggered
by light and its lack, light treatment helps patients deal
with chronic low back pain, its pain intensity, behavior, and
threshold. It also assists
with post-traumatic stress disorders symptomatology and quality of sleep. All
these were bettered with morning bright light treatment of US
veterans with chronic low back pain. (5) Such treatment could certainly
help McHenry back pain sufferers, too! These researchers think
that this light treatment helps the circadian timing of sleep which
is facilitated by melatonin. (5)
CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic
Listen to the PODCAST
with Dr. Chris DeVeau on the Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael
Johnson. A patient struggling with neck pain and arm pain found
difficulty with sleep and relief with Cox® Technic.
Schedule a McHenry chiropractic appointment for
your McHenry back pain. Patients in McHenry with disc degeneration may discover
extra relief with melatonin and light therapy alongside chiropractic treatment. Mitochondria, mitophagy, autophagy,
melatonin and back pain are interestingly connected, aren’t they?