Decalcified Pineal Gland Urban (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean when your pineal gland is calcified? ›

Calcification happens when calcium builds up in body tissue, causing the tissue to harden. Your pineal gland tends to calcify as you age. While some calcification is normal, excessive calcification can prevent your pineal gland from functioning properly.

In children under the age of 5 years, no calcification is present but prevalence increases rapidly with age, reaching a plateau at about 30 years of age ⁵.

Holistic practitioners believe that when the pineal gland is activated, it can lead to a heightened sense of intuition, clarity of thought, and an increased awareness of one's surroundings.

Calcification of the pineal gland may correlate with the age-related decline in melatonin production and fragmented sleep-wake patterns in the elderly. Also, some studies have found that the degree of calcification is higher in individuals with Alzheimer disease.

The most common symptom of pineal gland dysfunction is an alteration in circadian rhythms, meaning that you may sleep too little, too much, be restless in the night or fall asleep at unusual times. Although rare, pineal gland tumours can also develop.

Melatonin is the only known hormone synthesized by the pineal gland and is released in response to darkness hence the name, “hormone of darkness” [10].

The amount of melatonin your body makes is influenced by light exposure. But other lifestyle factors can also play a role in how much of it your body makes. Some natural ways to boost melatonin include getting sunlight in the morning, avoiding screens before bed, and eating melatonin-rich foods.

Your pineal gland is a very small gland in the centre of your brain. The pineal gland makes a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin helps your body control day-night sleep patterns and your internal body clock (circadian rhythms).

Why is the pineal gland called the third eye? ›

People may refer to the pineal gland as the third eye because, like your eyes, it responds to light and darkness. The gland contains light-sensitive cells that secrete melatonin in response to changing light throughout the day.

Potential symptoms of a calcified pineal gland may include insomnia and migraine attacks.

The pineal gland has also been linked to emotional responses, e.g., an increase in depression in winter and an increase in mania towards spring was linked with changing levels of melatonin (20).

In clinical practice, most common causes of pituitary calcifications are related to craniopharyngiomas. In other cases, it may be a Rathke's cleft cyst calcification (4) or a calcified pituitary adenoma (2, 3, 5-10). Nevertheless, calcified chordomas, meningiomas, and pituitary aneurisms should be considered too.

The median values were 88.5 mm³ (12.3 mm³–411 mm³) for total pineal volume (TPV), 74.3 mm³ (12.3 mm³–298 mm³) for noncalcified pineal volume (NPV), and 3.9 mm³ (0 mm³–141 mm³) for calcified pineal volume (CPV).

Microcalcifications are produced when calcium is deposited in tumor cells that have died. Tumor cells may die for a variety of reasons including apoptosis and necrosis.