This article does a good job of summarizing the results of recent small study that sheds some light on what melatonin can and can not do in terms of aiding sleep. This article included a good description of the trial’s important findings about melatonin’s effects on daytime sleep and its usefulness for those needing to shift their sleeping hours to daytime.
It would have been helpful to remind readers that melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement and as such, the FDA neither approves the claims made nor monitors the content of the product.
The story didn’t mention costs of melatonin. It also didn’t mention potential harms from the use of melatonin. (It may be problematic for those taking warfarin or individuals with epilepsy.)
The article mentioned that melatonin was as effective as the prescription medications Ambien or Lunesta.
The only sources of information appear to be related to the single study mentioned and the lead author of the paper on that study. It would have been better to include input from other sleep scientists unrelated to the study.
Though melatonin is readily available, no estimates for the cost of treatment were provided.
The benefit of treatment, an extra half-hour of sleep compared with control subjects in a trial, was presented. Kudos for clearly laying out that the gain in sleep time was not helpful for all insomnia – only that from change in time zone or shift work.
No potential harms from the use of melatonin were mentioned. (It may be problematic for those taking warfarin or individuals with epilepsy.)
This article gave a clear summary of the results from a recent double-blind placebo controlled trial. However, although it stated that the study was rigorous and well designed, it failed to explain what was meant by ‘rigorous and well designed’. Nonetheless, we’ll give a satisfactory score for this criterion.
This article did not disease monger or make exaggerated claims for melatonin.
The only sources of information appear to be related to the single study mentioned and the lead author of the paper on that study.
The article mentioned that melatonin was as effective as the prescription medications Ambien or Lunesta.
The article did not mention that melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement and as such, the FDA neither approves the claims made nor monitors the content of the product.
The article reports on some new evidence for what melatonin can and can’t do in terms of sleep. The story did not present melatonin as a novel treatment but rather that the results of a recent study provided some new insight about its use.
Does not appear to be based solely or largely on a press release.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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