According to statistics, in the past 10 years, the incidence rate of sleep disorders in China has continued to rise. At present, more than 300 million people have sleep disorders. On the 21st, the Chinese Sleep Research Association released the "2025 White Paper on Sleep Health Research in China". Based on survey data of more than 150000 people, the current average nighttime sleep duration of the population is 6.85 hours, an increase of 6 minutes from last year. The time to fall asleep is 0-18 minutes, which is 17 minutes later than last year. Difficulty falling asleep is still one of the main problems. Survey data shows that people aged 36-45 have the shortest nighttime sleep duration, which is 6 hours and 44 minutes. One quarter of people sleep less than 6 hours, and more than half of them fall asleep after midnight. Nearly 40% of the population has the problem of waking up easily at night, and 65% of people experience 1-2 sleep disturbances per week. What should I do if I have difficulty falling asleep? Many people have begun to seek more external help, such as melatonin and related products that have become popular in recent years, which are praised by many young people as "sleep aids". Can melatonin really help with sleep? Firstly, what is melatonin? Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland of the brain, also known as melatonin. The secretion of melatonin has a clear rhythm, with suppressed secretion during the day and active secretion at night. What does the brain secrete it for? The main function is to participate in regulating the human sleep wake cycle and circadian rhythm. Simply put, it tells our body when to sleep and when to wake up. Han Fang, Director of the Sleep Medicine Department at Peking University People's Hospital: We used to work at sunrise and rest at sunset. Melatonin is secreted with light, and when the sun sets and the light becomes dim at night, melatonin begins to rise. Around 10 pm is a peak in secretion, and at this time, one wants to sleep; After the next morning when there is light, melatonin decreases, so one can stay awake. However, melatonin is not a medication in daily life because it is particularly unique and everyone's bioavailability is different, so it cannot be used as a medicine. Therefore, it is now used as a health supplement. Therefore, if we use it as a hypnotic sleeping pill, we are completely wrong. These two types of people are more suitable for melatonin, which is a naturally occurring substance in the human body and seems to have a "health hypnosis" halo. As long as you search for the word "insomnia" on social media, there are some so-called "experience posts" that recommend melatonin. But is melatonin really suitable for everyone? At present, there are generally two types of people recognized as suitable for taking melatonin both domestically and internationally: the first type is those who need to clock in and out due to time difference and shift work, which are disorders of their biological clock. Their sleep rhythm has indeed changed, and sleep and wakefulness time can be adjusted by supplementing melatonin. The other category is middle-aged and elderly people. As age increases, the pineal gland gradually shrinks until calcification occurs, and the corresponding secretion of melatonin decreases, causing a decrease in the rhythmicity of the biological clock. Supplementing melatonin can promote sleep. Doctors remind that there are many types of insomnia. If insomnia is caused by anxiety or other physical illnesses, taking melatonin has no effect and cannot have a therapeutic effect. Some populations are also not suitable for taking melatonin, including pregnant and lactating women, patients with depression, as well as patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis. Melatonin is a "hormone" that cannot be used continuously for more than 3 months. Another important reason why many young people regard melatonin as a "miracle drug" is that melatonin is an endogenous substance secreted by the human body itself, not chemically synthesized, so it is definitely safe. In fact, as a hormone, improper use of melatonin can also cause many side effects. Huang Zhili, Director of the Department of Pharmacology at Fudan University: Businesses around the world, including those in Europe and America, may excessively package melatonin to reassure the public. It seems that because it is an endogenous substance, endogenous substances are different from traditional sedatives and hypnotics, with very low side effects. Whenever it comes to medication, the dosage must be taken into consideration. A large dosage will inevitably cause many side effects, such as dizziness, dizziness, reduced work efficiency the next day, and so on. These are very common side effects. Experts remind that in addition to side effects such as headaches, dizziness, and daytime sleepiness, although melatonin itself does not cause dependence, long-term dependence on exogenous melatonin regulation may affect one's own melatonin secretion. Even for individuals who are suitable for regulating melatonin, it should be used under the guidance of a professional doctor. Huang Zhili, Director of the Department of Pharmacology at Fudan University: Generally, if the dosage exceeds 2 milligrams, permission from a doctor should be obtained for use. In health products, it is generally between 0.3 and 1 milligrams, with a maximum of 2 milligrams or less. But now some products may have melatonin levels exceeding 3 milligrams, which is even higher than the amount of prescription drugs. We recommend that users generally should not use melatonin continuously for more than 3 months. If it exceeds 3 months, it will feedback inhibit the human endocrine system and reduce endogenous production. This is very disadvantageous, so it is recommended to use melatonin intermittently if needed. Drinking alcohol, eating late night snacks, and looking at your phone before bedtime all affect sleep quality. Understanding the truth about melatonin, let's take a look at what reasons seriously affect our sleep quality? This is actually closely related to lifestyle. From a lifestyle perspective, the more frequently people drink alcohol, the more times they wake up at night; Whether young, middle-aged, or elderly, people who frequently eat late night snacks tend to stay up later and wake up later, and have poorer sleep habits compared to those who do not eat late night snacks; Another prominent phenomenon in the survey is that obese individuals have more nighttime awakenings and lower sleep quality. A survey shows that among post-2000 college students, staying up late and getting up late has become the norm, with only about 20% of college students falling asleep before midnight and a quarter of college students falling asleep after 2am. Huang Zhili, head of the Department of Pharmacology at Fudan University: Sleep disorders are quite common among the post-2000s population, with the main characteristic being that they actively stay up late, sleep very late, and cannot get up in the morning. One is the high dependence on electronic products. Many people look at their phones before going to bed, and the harm of phones to us is mainly due to blue light exposure; Secondly, it is not conducive to inducing our sleep. When we browse electronic products, we bring a lot of information, which may cause anxiety and depression in viewers, seriously affecting our sleep quality. (New Society)