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 – helps sleep which
is essential to the body’s ability to recover
from the day and prepare for the next. Mitophagy promotes healthy
turnover of mitochondria (the energy producers in cells). Mitophagy prevents
the build-up of abnormal mitochondria in cells that may lead
to cell deterioration. In the case of back pain,
this would avoid such deterioration in the cells of the disc 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 augmented.
(1) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn presents findings that melatonin
and light therapy may intercede in this process and promote
Ashburn back pain relief.
MITOCHONDRIA AND DISC DEGENERATION
Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn understands how disc degeneration involves cellular oxidative stress, mitochondria issues and cell death (aka
apoptosis). This is the area researchers imply
melatonin may perform a positive role in the reduction
of disc degeneration. Melatonin gets rid of oxygen free radicals,
controls mitochondria function and balance, hastens mitrophagy and reduces apoptosis (cell death).
Melatonin may assist in the treatment of disc degeneration. (2)
MELATONIN AND LIGHT FOR DISC DEGENERATION AND Ashburn BACK PAIN
In a biological study of melatonin’s effect on intervertebral
disc degeneration, melatonin maintained nucleus
pulposus cells affected by oxidative stress. Such stress leads
to impairment of these cells. Melatonin is an significant
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 offers pain relieving
effect. (4) Melatonin may be another way to treat intervertebral disc degeneration.
LIGHT THERAPY AND BACK PAIN RELIEF
In so much as melatonin is activated
by light and its lack, light treatment helps patients cope 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 surely
help Ashburn back pain sufferers, too! These researchers suspect
that this light treatment helps the circadian timing of sleep which
is mediated by melatonin. (5)
CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn
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 Ashburn chiropractic appointment for
your Ashburn back pain. Patients in Ashburn 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, aren’t they?