Disturbed sleep in individuals with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI‐EMF): Melatonin assessment as a biological marker

Abstract

Individuals who suffer from idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI‐EMF) complain of a variety of adverse health effects. Troubled sleep remains a recurrent and common symptom in IEI‐EMF individuals. Melatonin, a circadian hormone, plays a major role in the sleep process. In this study, we compared levels of melatonin between a sensitive group (IEI‐EMF, n = 30) and a non‐sensitive control group (non IEI‐EMF, n = 25) without exposure to electromagnetic sources. Three questionnaires were used to evaluate the subjective quality and sleep quantity: the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Spiegel Sleep Inventory. Melatonin was quantified in saliva and its major metabolite 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) in urine. Melatonin levels were compared by a two‐way analysis of variance at various times between the control and IEI‐EMF group. Despite significantly different sleep scores between the two groups, with a lower score in the IEI‐EMF group (P < 0.001), no statistical difference was found between the two groups for saliva melatonin (P > 0.05) and urine aMT6s (P > 0.05). Bioelectromagnetics. 37:175–182, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An idiographic approach to idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) part I. Environmental, psychosocial and clinical assessment of three individuals with severe IEI-EMF

“…The strongly impaired subjective sleep quality of our participants might also be caused by biopsychosocial factors that are unrelated to EMF exposure. Although disturbances in sleep quality belong to the most frequent complaints related to IEI-EMF (R€ o€ osli et al, 2004), most of the studies have not found an association between impaired sleep quality and actual EMF exposure (Andrianome et al, 2016;Mohler et al, 2010Mohler et al, , 2012. Nevertheless, subjective quality of sleep has been associated with poor self-rated health, low level of social support and perceived stress in previous studies, while objective sleep efficiency was unrelated to subjective sleep quality, psychosocial characteristics or affect (Jackowska et al, 2011;Tworoger et al, 2005).…”

Association Between Mobile Phone Radiation Exposure and the Secretion of Melatonin and Cortisol, Two Markers of the Circadian System: A Review

“…Concurrently, some individuals, such as electrohypersensitive (EHS) individuals complain of sleep disturbances or other symptoms when they are exposed to EMF [Andrianome et al, 2018], and melatonin was suspected to be disturbed in this population, therefore causing sleep disturbances; but a recent study did not confirm this hypothesis [Andrianome et al, 2016].…”

Blue Light Deprivation Produces Depression-Like Responses in Mongolian Gerbils

“…Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in a circadian rhythm with peak levels observed at night in human beings (13,14). It is closely related to sleep and is generally considered a clock rhythm biomarker (15)(16)(17). Compare with other visible light, blue light is the most effective for melatonin inhibition and could reset melatonin circadian rhythm (15).…”