Melatonin. Mitochondria. Mitophagy. Autophagy. Oh my! Back pain connects them all in an interesting way.
Melatonin – the sleep regulating hormone – helps sleep which
is vital to the body’s ability to recuperate
from the day and get ready for the next. Mitophagy promotes healthy
turnover of mitochondria (the energy producers in cells). Mitophagy prevents
the build-up of dysfunctional mitochondria in cells that may precede cell degeneration. In the case of back pain,
this would avoid such disc
cell deterioration which may 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 augmented.
(1) New Roads Chiropractic Center shares findings that melatonin
and light therapy may intercede in this process and help with
New Roads back pain relief.
MITOCHONDRIA AND DISC DEGENERATION
New Roads Chiropractic Center understands how disc degeneration includes oxidative
stress on the cell, mitochondria problems and cell death (aka
apoptosis). This is the area researchers imply
melatonin may play a positive role in the slowing
of disc degeneration. Melatonin gets rid of oxygen free radicals,
normalizes mitochondria function and balance, speeds
up mitrophagy and slows apoptosis (cell death).
Melatonin may help treat disc degeneration. (2)
MELATONIN AND LIGHT FOR DISC DEGENERATION AND New Roads 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 harm of these cells. Melatonin is an important
neuroendocrine hormone with sound 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 decreased
pain intensity when moving and resting signified that melatonin
possibly offers an analgesic
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 assists patients handle chronic low back pain, its pain intensity, behavior, and
threshold. It also helps
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 surely
help New Roads back pain sufferers, too! These researchers think
that this light treatment regulates the circadian timing of sleep which
is facilitated by melatonin. (5)
CONTACT New Roads Chiropractic Center
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 New Roads chiropractic appointment for
your New Roads back pain. Patients in New Roads with disc degeneration may discover
extra relief with melatonin and light therapy together with chiropractic treatment. Mitochondria, mitophagy, autophagy,
melatonin and back pain are interestingly linked, are they
not?