For chronic sleep disorders, it may be helpful to evaluate the functioning of the thyroid gland and to check for iron deficiency in the body. This is MV Lomonosov Alexander Kalinkin to socialbites.ca by the Head of the Center for Sleep Medicine at the University Clinic of Moscow State University.
The doctor explained that in case of insomnia, it makes sense to check the function of the thyroid gland by testing it for TSH and T4 or just TSH. Sleep disorders can also cause iron deficiency.
“Serum iron is too variable to be diagnostic, just like hemoglobin, which can be normal in iron deficiency. More precisely, the deficiency can be detected by evaluating ferritin and soluble transferrin receptors,” said Kalinkin.
But the expert no longer recommends spending money on expensive analyzes of the concentration of neurotransmitters, melatonin and vitamins, which are often recommended for insomnia.
“Neurotransmitters affect sleep, but their concentration in the brain is important, not in the blood. As for melatonin, its level drops to trace amounts during the daytime, so a single concentration measurement makes no diagnostic sense,” Kalinkin explained.
The somnologist added that in case of insomnia, it makes sense to check for vitamin B12 deficiency by performing an analysis for methymalonic acid. However, this analysis is absolutely not correct: it should be evaluated by the doctor, taking into account the patient’s symptoms.
Source: Gazeta
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