Correction of non-24-hour sleep/wake cycle by melatonin in a blind retarded boy.
A 9-year-old, blind boy with severe mental retardation with a chronic sleep/wake disturbance had a circadian rhythm of 24.75 hours and an internal desynchronization of the endogenous rhythms. Treatment with oral melatonin given at 6 PM induced a regular sleep/wake pattern. Melatonin, in this patient, convincingly entrained the endogenous rhythm to the appropriate chronological 24-hour day.
Palm
L
L
Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Blennow
G
G
Wetterberg
L
L
D001766:Blindness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000652:urine; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000652:urine; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D008550:Melatonin; D006854:Hydrocortisone