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Melatonin Against Aging: Could We Stimulate Melatonin Secretion Through Tahajjud?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Spiritual Health Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

2 Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Infectious Diseases Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran 3 Department of Quran and Hadith Studies in Health, School of Health and Religion, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran

3 Transplant Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Shiraz, Iran.

4 Department of Islamic Knowledge, Faculty of Medicine, Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

5 Professor of Endocrinology & Metabolism Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine Diabetes Research Center Shahid Sadoughi General Hospital Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences

6 Department of Foreign Languages, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

7 Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

8 Schoolof health and religion, Qom university of medical sciences. Qom, Iran

Abstract

Background: Islamic instructions suggest waking up near dawn at night and spending time praying to Allah. This is the time of maximum melatonin secretion, that is a hormone mainly functioning in the circadian rhythm. Melatonin secretion declines with age and leads to different clinical consequences. This study aimed to investigate the melatonin levels among night vigil prayers, non-prayer late sleepers, and those with regular night sleep.
Methods: A questionnaire including information about age, gender, education, and occupation was used to collect the demographic information of the participants. Melatonin was measured with two blood draws (at 23:00 to 24:00 and 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.).
Results: There was a significant difference between both nocturnal and daily melatonin of the night vigil prayers with the other two groups. The average daily melatonin serum level had no significant difference in groups of regular night sleepers and the nonpraying late sleepers (p=0.306). Moreover, an adverse significant relationship was found between age and nocturnal melatonin (R=0.38, P<0.0001) and between age and daily melatonin (R=0.25, P=0.02).
Conclusion: The night vigil prayers have a higher average of nocturnal and daily melatonin serum secretion compared to the nonpraying late sleepers and regular night sleepers. Therefore, waking up at night accompanied by approaching Allah, prayer, supplication, and good thinking is related to the release of more melatonin.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
Volume 31, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
May and June 2024
Pages 60-65
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