From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-04-27 16:33:35 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Melatonin toxicity???
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Could you get a clarification of that?
Melatonin is a NORMAL and very ancient HORMONE that has
A NUMBER OF BODILY FUNCTIONS which is found in us, in
ferrets, and so many animals. It is produced by the pineal
gland in response to darkness. The more light impinging
on the darkness there is and the fewer hours of darkness
there are then the lass melatonin there is.
That is more darkness is better, but not all light waves are
as disruptive as others. The portions of light that are most
disruptive are the blue and green wavelengths, with blue the
worst. Amber is the least disruptive. Remember that white
light contains the range of wavelengths!
One thing that melatonin does is that in sufficient amounts it
helps keep down the amount of LH (Luteinizing Hormone)
that the pituitary produces. That is one way that sufficient
darkness might delay or reduce adrenal disease since too much
and too long LH exposure is the big player in the causation of
adrenal growths, so parts of the prevention approaches are aimed
at avoiding or reducing that "overload" (not the best word, but...).
Melatonin does a heck of a lot. People forget how many functions
hormones have in the body and that some have multiple organ that
can produce them. For example, there are already dozens of known
functions of the androgens ("male" hormones) and hundreds of
known functions of the estrogens ("female" hormones). The adrenals
can also produce these in both genders, the genders always have
both androgens and estrogens working in them in many ways (but
in different ways, and even fat can produce some estrogens. Oh, and
the body can easily change estrogens and androgens back and forth
into each other.
Melatonin also does a lot. It appears to be a great fighter of malignancies
and may be an important piece in the ways that so many early starts
into malignancy don't take hold. It works in the marrow. It appears to
help in at least two pancreatic functions (and opposing ones at that), and
lots, and lots more.
Those opposing pancreatic functions may be why it might be helpful
with some cases of insulinoma but poss. harmful with some other cases of
insulinoma so it might be best to try oral melatonin first instead of the
implant *IF* insulinoma is present just to see how the individual does.
(Although a LOT is known about adrenal disease now, most of what is
advanced about insulinoma is still hypothetical and there is LOADS to
learn, with multiple (and sometimes opposing) hypotheses being able
to be advanced by emphasizing some research over others so we all
need to just keep open minds and try the hypotheses we find more
convincing personally while knowing that we don't yet know which ones
will pan out once the needed work is done. Remember, too, that personal
experiences can vary. I know one wonderful ferret vet who has had many
ferrets with insulinoma who responded well when given melatonin
implants, and another wonderful ferret vet who has run into some scary
situations a few times under multiple other conditions with ferrets who
got melatonin which having insulinoma.)
Now, too much melatonin ingested can cause extreme drowsiness, and
the body tends to stop responding to added melatonin (as opposed to the
melatonin it produces itself) after a while, with the oral melatonin
appearing to work shorter than the implant in terms of how long the body
continues to respond to repeated doses.
Also, I guess it might be that your vet read of a contaminated batch...
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, Andrea <brascoben@...> wrote:
>
> Can you guys tell me if I am missing something here? Is Melatonin known to cause any
toxicity in ferrets? I dont mean an overdose, I mean like the regular Ferretonin Implant or
the oral dosage of 1 mg daily?
>
> My *former* vet is claiming that melatonin causes toxicity in ferrets.
>
> Thank you,
> Andrea
>
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